Textile Artist to Talk About Installation at 'Industrial Past' Exhibit

A highlight of the current exhibit in the Barrington Town Museum, titled “Barrington’s Industrial Past,” is a one-of-a-kind textile art installation by renowned artist Deborah Baronas of Warren.

On Sunday afternoon, Jan. 19, Baronas will speak about her installation at 2 pm in the museum on the lower level of the Barrington library building.

The talk is free and open to anyone with an interest in Barrington’s industrial past, said Carole Villucci. 

“Many people don’t even realize Barrington has an industrial past,” said Villucci, who spent more than a year creating the exhibit.

The exhibit includes artifacts, photographs and other historical pieces – many culled from the museum’s own collection, she said. 

“This has been a voyage of discovery,” said Villucci. “It tells the story of early Barrington and the people that changed the face of the town.”

The textile art installation by Baronas is like the frosting on a cake.

Baronas is probably most noted locally for The Mill Project, originally known as the Warren Mill Project. It includes hand-stenciled scrims of 19th century textile workers in cotton gauze, which recalls the absolute control the mills had over workers and their lives. Images of clothese lines, fences and workers are softened by fine scrims of shadows on cloth.

The Town Musuem installation is similar in makeup and design. Hand-stenciled textile screens hang from the ceiling in the center of the exhibit.