The story of this scene is not one of what happened to this dilapidated barn. This is a story about real people and how one space can touch each of them differently. This painting tells the story of the generations of people who spent much of their lives within the cavernous walls of this barn over the span of almost a century. Every worker, every foreman and boss has his or her own story to tell about this landmark. The tobacco farm where I grew up had rows of these structures that were filled, one by one, with the prized cigar wrapper tobacco harvested during the long, hot summers. My personal story is one of awakening through hard work. It was in this barn that I put in my first day of labor on the farm at age eight. After that first summer working in the barn, I spent every summer through high school working in the fields. This is where I realized that I needed a good education in order to achieve my dream of becoming an artist.