Opening Day | The Photoville FENCE in Winchester

The Photoville FENCE is coming to Winchester from June 20, 2020 until September 27, 2020.
Coming to see the Fence? Print out the map and artist locations before you come.

This 8th edition of The Photoville FENCE in Winchester is unlike any past exhibition of this year-round public photography project, including the exhibitions we and others have presented on the fences of SoWA and around Boston over the years. This exhibition will take the form of Photo-Xs with a 10-foot diameter, one of Photoville’s customizable, modular and transportable systems to exhibit photography indoors and outdoors.  In the largest display of Photo-Xs, twenty-five of these structures will be distributed throughout our Winchester Cultural District. Our installation is one of 13 installation sites in the United States and Canada.

We brought this exhibition to Winchester to celebrate our town becoming a cultural district, and because Winchester is an epicenter for photography. Though Winchester does not have the fencing required for the usual Photoville FENCE exhibition, its plentiful public spaces provide an opportunity for a one-of-a-kind exhibition that connects the town through photography and visual stories.

With this outdoor exhibition,  our public gets to experience our town and its cultural institutions and businesses through a nice manageable walk and a scavenger hunt type journey. These installations are all ADA compliant. Masks and social distancing are required during these times. We ask visitors not to touch the installations for cleanliness purposes or material  surfaces.

The photographers of the 8th Edition of the Photoville FENCE and the New England Regional Showcase will be on view beginning June 20, 2020. We will install on June 17/18, 2020. A selection of photographs from the Winchester and Burlington High Schools will also be showcased on the Photo-Xs.

The Photoville FENCE exhibition was planned to open alongside a festival involving the cultural institutions of Winchester on June 20, 2020. The Festival would have been free for the public as well with advanced ticketing. Due to the virus we can not be able to move forward with a live festival. We will plan a virtual festival during the installation.

 See two example photographs of the X’s from previous Photoville festivals in New York City below.

NEW YORK, September 22th, 2019. Photoville NYC

Photoville NY 2019 (© Jessica Bal)

An event and exhibition like this takes a village to produce. Our village includes the people of Photoville the photographers from all over the world who submitted to The Photoville FENCE, and the scores of jurors who reviewed this massive international project. On a local level, the Griffin Museum of Photography has such gratitude for Mary McKenna, AIA, LEED AP, Chair of the Winchester Cultural District whose vision and persistence kept us on track. We thank Lisa Wong, the Town Manager of Winchester, for her foresight and feedback. We thank the Winchester Cultural District and the Mass Cultural Council for  funding, along with the Arthur Griffin Foundation (no relation to the Griffin Museum) and the Winchester Cultural Council. We also want to thank Ms. Levatino and Ms. Djordjevic of Winchester High School and Burlington High School for their organization and scanning efforts. Lastly, but not least at all, our gratitude goes to the interns for the Photoville FENCE from Winchester High School led by Mary McKenna. The map shown above was produced by Nathan Shepard of Winchester High School. This village wouldn’t be complete without our great public. We hope you will visit our town’s installation of the Photoville FENCE in Winchester.

Submissions are currently open for the 9th edition of The Photoville FENCE, which will be displayed in 9 cities between summer 2020 and summer 2021. Visit the website for details and to submit: fence.photovile.com

Any questions? Let us know. Visiting the Photoville FENCE in Winchester is free for all. Masks are manditory in public spaces during these times. Take out food for lunch or dinner in our many business establishments set up to control social distancing protocols. Shop our stores using social distancing protocols. Visit the Griffin Museum of Photography observing our social distancing protocols and using masks. All are welcome here.

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