The heart of every working farm is its barn. It provides shelter for animals, storage for their feed, and a place to keep tools and machinery. When the barn on Jacob's farm burns down, Jacob's father knows he has to replace it -- and quickly.

In the Amish community a barn is built in a day. Early in the morning friends and neighbors gather to make and raise the frames of the barn, to roof it, and to add the siding. By evening a new building rises from the landscape. Once again the animals have shelter, their feed is stored, and the farm equipment is in place.

Craig Brown's vigorous, folkloric-style paintings convey so much more than an intricate, step-by-step process of barn construction. Shining through is a spirit of generosity, cooperation, and neighborly concern that is at the core of every barn raising.