Matt L. Barron has spent more than 40 years in electoral politics at the federal, state and local levels.

A former staffer for U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, three Massachusetts state legislators and the Bay State’s Commissioner of Food & Agriculture, Barron has comprehensive experience in rural policy matters. In 2007, he co-founded RuralVotes, a national non-profit issue advocacy organization. He served as a charter member of the Obama Agriculture & Rural Policy Committee during 2007-2008 presidential campaign. He currently serves as chair of the Board of Public Overseers for the Extension Service at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Matt manages a small woodlot on his property in Chesterfield, MA. Back in March 1999, Matt’s sister Becky sent him an e-mail: “Did you know there’s a Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History in Weston? Sounds like a great place to mount a show exhibiting your old post office photograph collection.”

Now, in 2022, 34 of his curated images hang at the Spellman. He currently has a collection of 182 images in nine states, 34 of which are on display at the Museum.