By Mark Reynolds
Barbara Masterson is no stranger to The Falcon, a music and artist venue in the heart of the village of Marlboro. She was invited back by Lee Falco and is showing her “Hands That Feed Us- Part II,” a series of portraits of migrant workers who labor on farms in Milton and Marlboro.
Last year Masterson had a number of her works reproduced in large format banners and began hanging them on the sides of barns in town. These works were aimed at drawing attention to the hard work and dedication of these unsung heroes that often goes unnoticed by the public.
Masterson called these workers her ‘muse’ and recently was awarded a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts that will go toward creating additional large-scale banners.
“I am presently looking for blank buildings to hang more on. I am looking from Newburgh to Troy for this but I am keeping the focus on the Marlboro area,” she said.
Masterson also has some black & white drawings of workers in the show and used ‘wolf pencil’ for these, which is a mixture of graphite and charcoal.
Masterson expects her work at the Falcon will be up for about two months.