artifacts courtesy of the Arabber Preservation Society

We Are Arabbers follows the horse-and-wagon produce vendors along the streets of Baltimore as they struggle to make a living and maintain their unique culture. Once an integral part of society, hucksters, hawkers and peddlers distributed goods and services throughout the cities of America announcing their trade with a holler or a song. Today, only a handful remain to share their moving stories, revealing their hidden network of back-alley stables. Along this journey, we meet the old-timers, their contemporaries and customers, the Scottish ferrier, the Amish wheelwrights and the Mennonite harness-makers. The arabbers continue their heritage into the twenty-first century. Do you know who they are? Do you know their history?

Exhibiting Artists:
A. Aubrey Bodine
Charles Cohen
Bill Crandall
Buford Evans
Roland L. Freeman
Gabriel Goodenough
Pat Hornberg
Mitro Hood
Mary Morse Jacobs
Gabriel Kroiz
Scott Kecken
Donald E. Lee
Mary Mac Mason
Melvin Miller
Tommy O'Dea
Arthur Remanjon
Travis Roozee
Frank Sipolloni
Dan Van Allen

historical photographs courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland

About the filmmakers:
Scott Kecken (pictured left, photographed by Amy Holloman) and Joy Lusko Kecken met at Towson University in 1995. Their first collaboration, Louisville, starred Emmy award-winner Andre Braugher. It was screened at over 30 film festivals and won over 10 awards, including best short at the New York Independent International Film Festival. After receiving grants from the Maryland Arts Council and the Maryland Humanities Council, they began their feature-length documentary, We Are Arabbers, about Baltimore's horse-and-wagon produce vendors. While in post-production on the documentary, they completed another short narrative film, Woman Hollering Creek. Scott and Joy were married in 2002 and live in Pennsylvania with their son.