“Don Giovanni,” Rebus Works, Raleigh, NC

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Archived copy for research · saved for the Matt Sesow Career Chronicle, history.sesow.com, October 11, 2026
Title: Matt Sesow will paint onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North Carolina's production of "Don
Giovanni"
Publisher: Peace Corps Online (posted October 19, 2006; reprint of News & Observer coverage)
Date: October 2, 2006
Original URL: https://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2063522.html
Why it matters: Live painting onstage and in the lobby during Don Giovanni, Raleigh, October 2006, with an interview.
Copyright remains with the original publisher. Reproduced for reference and scholarship; contact sesow@sesow.com
with any request.

2006.10.02: October 2, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Solomon Islands: Art: Painting: Disabilities: News &
Observer: Matt Sesow will paint onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North Carolina's
production of "Don Giovanni"
Peace Corps Online: Directory: Solomon Islands: Special Report: Artist and Solomon Islands RPCV Matt
Sesow: 2006.10.02: October 2, 2006: Headlines: Figures: COS - Solomon Islands: Art: Painting: Disabilities:
News & Observer: Matt Sesow will paint onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North
Carolina's production of "Don Giovanni"
By Admin1 (admin) (ppp-70-129-41-31.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net - 70.129.41.31) on Thursday, October 19, 2006 11:13 am: Edit Post
Matt Sesow will paint onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North Carolina's production of
"Don Giovanni"

"When I started painting in '94, I was working at IBM as a computer programmer. I was hit by an airplane when I
was 8 which removed my dominant left hand. Thanks to a supportive family and everything I lived a pretty normal
high school life. I played football, ran track, did all the varsity sports. To me [the disability] wasn't a big deal. But
once I started painting in 1994 as a hobby or almost as a joke, the disability was the first thing to come out, these
really strong emotions. My colors and my lines were very bright and strong and powerful." Artist Matt Sesow served
as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Soomon Islands.
Matt Sesow will paint onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North Carolina's production of "Don
Giovanni"
Look Who's Coming: Matt Sesow
Ellen Sung, Staff Writer
AT A GLANCE
Caption: The painting "mefloquin" by RPCV Matt Sesow
KNOWN FOR | Emotionally raw, self-taught painting influenced by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Willem de Kooning and
Francis Bacon.
BUT PAINTING TO LIVE OPERA? | Sesow will paint onstage and in the lobby during the Opera Company of North
Carolina's production of "Don Giovanni" this week.
Sesow spoke with staff writer Ellen Sung from his home in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Q - How did this painting-and-opera project come about?
A - The person who contacted me is Robert Galbraith, the director of the opera company. He had met me at a street
festival up here in Washington, D.C., about three years ago. He told me he bought eight pieces from me that day.
Q - Eight?
A - One of the things I pride myself on is my prices are really low. He probably bought some of my smaller pieces,
which are from $20 to $60. I also do a project every year called "31 Days of July." I take the cover of the Washington
Post each day and get inspired by the news; I start a new canvas every day. Bob had bought one of those from me, too,
online last year.
He contacted me three months ago seeing if I would be interested in the project. I actually had a solo show in Raleigh,
N.C., last year at Rebus Works, so I guess that reintroduced him to my works.
When he contacted me, I was thrilled. The idea of me painting in front of an audience while there's an opera being
performed is fascinating. I'm so excited about it.
Q - How did you become known as an "outsider artist"?
A - When I started painting in '94, I was working at IBM as a computer programmer. I was hit by an airplane when I
was 8 which removed my dominant left hand. Thanks to a supportive family and everything I lived a pretty normal
high school life. I played football, ran track, did all the varsity sports.
To me [the disability] wasn't a big deal. But once I started painting in 1994 as a hobby or almost as a joke, the disability
was the first thing to come out, these really strong emotions. My colors and my lines were very bright and strong and
powerful.
When I started to try to show my work in 1995, a woman ... I think she bought 14 of my pieces at a show in
Georgetown. It turns out that she was an outsider art dealer, or folk art dealer. Because of my disability and because I
like to paint raw, my style is very reminiscent of that folk art or outsider art style.
There was a lot of excitement: There was this kid and he got hit by a plane and his work looks like this! And I was
going to IBM wearing a suit and tie.
My prices were really high. My friends really couldn't afford my work. It became very stressful just to be a painter. I
didn't want to paint anymore.
In 2001, I was working in a dot-com and they went belly-up. I decided that day I was going to try to be a painter fulltime. I fired my agent and I just started doing all of it myself, all of my marketing, approaching galleries and selling my
work online. I would complete a painting and post it on the Internet so people could see things basically while they
were wet.
Q - It sounds like you're saying you don't consider yourself an outsider artist.
A - No, no, I don't. To me it seems that outsider art is a term invented by people who will profit from it. It's like a label
to validate high prices. I'm a person who has shown in museums, is in permanent collections -- and I'm alive. You can
deal directly with me.
I just consider myself an expressionist.
[With outsider art] it's almost like you have to live in your trauma. To me, art is a healing mechanism. It's almost
expected of me to paint a severed hand or an airplane crashing into me.

When we get told what we are by people who are going to make a profit, that's a problem. I think most people who buy
my art now don't even know what outsider art is and don't care. To me, that's so satisfying.
Q - Painting is usually such a solitary pursuit. Do you think the audiences at the opera will be a distraction?
A - No. I'm actually worried that I might be a distraction!
I'm a pretty expressive person with my painting. I'm going to be this one-handed guy up there probably with paint all
over me more than on the canvas. And I'm a pretty tall guy. So I'll try my best not to be disruptive.
Q - Are you inspired by the story of Don Giovanni?
A - I really haven't seen a live performance. I do have the movie ... but it's a movie. I want to be inspired by what Bob
does. The music of Mozart, that will inspire me and that has inspired me. The use of music while painting is very key
to my style.
DETAILS
WHAT Opera Company of North Carolina's "Don Giovanni" with Matt Sesow painting onstage.
WHEN 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday.
WHERE Meymandi Concert Hall, Progress Energy Center, Raleigh.
COST $20-$75.
CONTACT 783-0098, www.operanc.com; 834-4000, www.ticket master.com.
INFORMATION www.sesow.com

When this story was posted in October 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps
Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver
Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce
legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for
demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to
accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing
medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more
transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net
for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances,
private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for
review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

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Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin
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He served with honor
One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website
on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and
Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in
Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV
community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts
go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.
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DRI receives Charity Navigator's highest ratings 29 Aug
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Richard Celeste writes: Watch Out For Voting Day Bugs 28 Aug
Donna Shalala boosted UM's image 27 Aug
Leonard Robinson devoted his life to the underserved 24 Aug
Phil Hardberger will run for re-election in 2007 24 Aug
Snakes on the Plain - the black mamba 23 Aug
Eunice Kennedy Shriver still going strong 20 Aug
Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director
Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very
cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make
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programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session,
Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management
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and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs.
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administration's position in Iraq, is now proposing a timetable for a withdrawal of American troops.

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Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the
guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey
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The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again
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behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago,
Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you
can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but
what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have
applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has
never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.
Support the US-Peruvian Trade Pact
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and Republican legislators to support the US-Peruvian trade pact before July 28, when his term ends
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your representatives.
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History of the Peace Corps
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Story Source: News & Observer
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Solomon Islands; Art; Painting;
Disabilities
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