Frederick Barthelme started making art in the 1960s and exhibited in Houston at Louisiana Gallery, Katheryn Swenson Gallery, Kiko Gallery, the University of Houston, Rice University, the Jewish Community Center, and regionally at the Oklahoma Art Center and elsewhere. In 1967 he moved to NY and showed in the first concept art exhibit at the short-lived Museum of Normal Art, and thereafter at Oberlin College, Seattle Art Museum, UBC Gallery Vancouver, CAYC Buenos Aires, New York Cultural Center, the Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Exhibitions, Texas Gallery, and in numerous national and international printed exhibits.