Exhibition 2005
SoWeBo Festival 2005, Baltimore
Matt’s own 2005 year in review lists it plainly: “MAY: SoWeBo festival in Baltimore (thanks ocean and baltimore).” By then his paintings had been at the American Visionary Art Museum for half a year, and the museum’s SideShow shop was already selling his work.
In their words
MAY: SoWeBo festival in Baltimore (thanks ocean and baltimore)
that is from sowebo festival in baltimore. ... Hugely important! I did that festival for a handful of years and it is how I met ted Frankel of AVAM AND THE SIDESHOW GIFTSHOP. It is a great reason why I am in avam
Saved web pages and links
- All of Matt’s SoWeBo festivals on one page (2002–2005)
- SoWeBo 2002 (May 26, 2002)
- SoWeBo 2003 (May 25, 2003)
- SoWeBo 2004 (May 30, 2004)
- What came next: first American Visionary Art Museum show, “Holy H2O,” October 2004
- Twenty-two years with AVAM (2004–2026)
- Ted Frankel’s home and his Sesow paintings, Baltimore Magazine, 2015
- Sowebo neighborhood and the Sowebohemian Arts Festival (Wikipedia)
Research notes
- SoWeBo (the Sowebohemian Arts Festival) fills the streets around Hollins Market in Southwest Baltimore every year on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Matt sold paintings there for several years (2002–2005 are documented). It is where he met Ted Frankel of the American Visionary Art Museum and its SideShow gift shop — in Matt’s words, “a great reason why I am in avam.” AVAM first showed his paintings in October 2004.
- No photos from SoWeBo 2005 have been found on the drive yet. The festival falls on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend (May 29 in 2005).
Where this record comes from
- Matt Sesow, email answers to Claude, October 29, 2026
- sesow.com (Matt’s own site, server copy): index 2003, 2005review.htm
- Matt’s camera photos (_****YEARS)
Cite as: Sesow, Matt. “SoWeBo Festival 2005, Baltimore.” Matt Sesow Career Chronicle, 2005. history.sesow.com/e/2005-sowebo-festival-hollins-market-baltimore.html. Accessed [date].
Were you there? Do you have a photo, a clipping or a memory of this? Please write to sesow@sesow.com or use Ask Matt a question, and it will be added here.
Also in 2005
Exhibition (23)
- Museum of the Southwest, South Wing Galleries, Midland, TX
- Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX
- “Carrots and Sticks,” Rebus Works, Raleigh, NC
- “Looking Back, Sprint Forward,” Gallery Co., Minneapolis, MN
- Hunter Hogan Gallery at The Barry Robinson Theater
- “Eye of the Storm,” Studio One Eight, Washington, DC
- Guillotine Gallery, Atlanta, GA
- “Off the Beaten Path: The 2nd Annual Exhibition of New Talent and Old”
- “Face Dances,” Hurn Museum
- Solo Exhibition and stage commission
- Cover of LeftTurn Magazine
- “Hell Bound” and “Bunny Collector” touring in “Revelations”
- “What’s So Terrible About Being Beautiful?” — Museum of Contemporary Art DC (2005)
- “On The Wall” — Portland, OR, shoe painting to benefit Skatepark
- Alcove Gallery, Atlanta, GA — “Date Night” and “Fruit Bowl” group
- “Husker Du?,” Folsom Gallery, University Place Art Center, Lincoln
- Aroma, Cleveland Park, Washington, DC
- “Downtown Girl, Uptown Boy” — D.C. Public Library, 2005
- “Learning to Crawl” — Inside/Outside Art Gallery, Cleveland, 2005
- Benefit punk-rock show and eBay art auction, Cafe Mawonaj
- Five DC artists at Caprice Bistro, Wilmington, NC
- “Raw Vision,” Merrill-Jennings Galleries, NC
- Guest Artist, third year — Kentuck Festival, Northport, AL
Press (8)
- Washington Post — listing for a group show at MOCA DC / A+M Galleries
- Ron Taylor, Demon Beach Records
- Allison Hersh, Savannah Morning News
- Hill Rag, March 2005 — Jim Magner
- Hartford Courant — “Painting From Pain,” by Adrian Brune (October 13, 2005)
- “Rival Revival” — Washington City Paper, July 14, 2005
- The Virginian-Pilot — “Artist displays 'future of art' at Hogan”
- Get Out — cover, March 31