For many years Marlboro artist Barbara Masterson has forged strong ties with the migrant farm working community who come each year to harvest crops in town. She first crossed paths with them about 10 years ago, which has resulted in her painting their portraits and capturing them working in the fields and orchards throughout Marlborough.

“I have gotten to know many of these workers [and] have listened to their stories about life here and at home,” she said. “Friends would give me clothing, bicycles, radios, ear protection, and food for them. I gave one worker a child’s bike, which he took back to Jamaica for his grandchild. A former colleague gave me $900 in memory of her deceased husband to buy what the workers needed. I went to the barracks and got their sizes for clothing and boots.”

Masterson, however, still feels compelled to do more. She said from now until May 1st she will donate 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of any of her drawings or paintings to the Rural and Migrant Ministry.” She said the Ministry, under the direction of Rev. Richard Witt, “works to create a just, rural New York State through nurturing leadership, changing unjust systems and structures and standing with the disenfranchised, especially farm workers and rural workers.”

Masterson explained why she is taking this step.

“Art is like a serum, transforming its audience for good or ill. Familiar shapes in fields and in orchards, these migrant workers toil in the Hudson Valley doing jobs most Americans won’t, earning modest wages and sometimes risking deportation. While hard at work, they summon our attention and invite us to come closer, to see their labor and their humanity.”

Masterson poses two simple questions; Who are they and Can you see them?

“It’s possible for society to confer invisibility on a group. We relieve ourselves of concern about [their] health care, working conditions, impacts from pesticides, housing and a lack of ability to get their own food,” she noted.

Masterson hopes her art work can expand society’s perception of this hard-working community.

“If only by their images in my paintings, the viewer will come to see these persons for the vital role they have in our lives,” she said.

In the past, Masterson has donated some of the profits from her paintings to the Rural and Migrant Ministry.

“The work they do is so important and that’s why I do this.” she said.
Reverend Witt appreciates his connection to Masterson.

“She’s been very supportive of the work we do and we’ve worked with some of the farm workers she has painted. I think she’s very committed to the people that she paints and their well-being and in turn has supported our organization because of our long-standing work with farm workers,” Rev. Witt said.

The Ministry was formed in Rosendale 1981 and they have created three program areas to help the farming community: Accompanying farm working families as they seek to improve their working and living conditions, by legislative efforts to civil rights litigation and dealing with issues such as exclusion in their local communities.

Rev. Witt said the second program area is Education through the Rural Academy of the People, “where people have a chance to learn from one another and develop the skills they need to make changes in their lives and in their communities [and] to make sure their voices are heard when decisions impacting their lives are being made.”

Rev. Witt said the third area, which is the Ministry’s largest, is the Youth Leadership Development program.

“We work primarily with high school age students throughout rural New York helping them develop skills and self-confidence so they can be leaders and helping them get into college with 95% of our graduates going on to higher education.”

The Ministry’s main center is located in Cornwall-on-Hudson and others are in South Fallsburg in the Catskills, Riverhead in eastern Long Island and upstate in Lyons, NY in the Finger Lakes region.

Rev. Witt said in the organization’s first twenty years, “we were involved in leading a legislative campaign to ensure that farm workers were treated equally under New York State Labor Laws because for many decades they were excluded from such things as the right to a day of rest or disability insurance. It finally passed in 2019 and that benefits 70,000+ farm workers across New York State. On a more daily basis, there are probably 300+ farm working families that access our various programs.”

Rev. Witt said current national issues surrounding migrants and immigration are definitely impacting farm working families.

“A lot of our folks are afraid to go to work and a lot of our children are afraid to go to school. We’ve had to move some of the gatherings we have from in-person to zoom, which is having an impact,” he said. “There is a lot of fear going on.”

Rev. Witt said on Monday, February 3, they launched their Immigrant Legal Rights Project, aimed at addressing systemic legal issues.

“We want to make sure that school districts and Sheriff’s Departments and others are following the law and respecting people’s rights. We have an immigration attorney that has just joined our staff to direct this new project.”

In addition, Rev. Witt said they’ve helped to launch a Federal Credit Union, “so we’re working with families to also make sure they have access to banking and can build up some equity and credit.”

Rev. Witt said they do not ask what a person’s status is; “Our mission has historically been that folks are here in our community, they’re working to feed us and nurture us and strengthen our economy and if they’re in need, then we do what we can to support them.”

Rev. Witt added that if someone were to purchase one of Masterson’s paintings and then donate it to their center, “we would love to have one of her works adorn our walls. It would mean so much to us.”

Masterson’s website is barbaramasterson.com where you can view a collection of her drawings and paintings that are for sale. She can be reached at 845-532-3445. To learn more about the Ministry go to ruralmigrantministry.org.