Welcome to SuperMonster市City!

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A Celebration of Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains in traveling museum exhibitions!


SuperMonster市City! traveling exhibits are derived from co-founder David Barnhill’s private collection of an estimated 200,000 toys, posters, games, books, films, and more. Co-founder Stephen Rueff curates the objects in social and political contexts through reflective and informative texts, artist profiles, and commentary. Barnhill and Rueff bring new insights to America’s iconic mythical figures from America’s Golden Age of toys.


2024 Exhibition Dates:

Spies and Space: Toys of the Cold War Era is an exhibition reflects on how the drama and intrigue of real-world espionage, and the fascination with outer space, seeped into American and Russian popular culture during the Cold War Era. Follow the links below for more info!

Sheboygan County History Musuem

February – April 2024

Dacotah Prairie Musuem 

May – September 2024

Castle Museum of Saginaw County Musuem

September 2024 – January 2025

 


2024 Exhibition Dates:

This exhibition explores how American monsters, superheroes, and villains impacted American culture from the 1960s to the 1990s and became iconic characters reflecting America’s changing values and social tensions. Through this unique display of hundreds of toys, posters, media, and text panels, this exhibition has been enjoyed by thousands of people in cultural institutions across the U.S. Follow the links below for more information!

Science Central

June  – September 2024

Sacramento History Museum

September 2024 – January 2025


Recommendation:

The St. Louis Public Library Director of Marketing and Events

Cathy Heimberger wrote the following recommendation.

“As the director of marketing for the St. Louis Public Library I am tasked with bringing exhibits to our Central Library that are unique and have a broad appeal. I met David and Stephen while attending an American Association of Museums conference and I knew immediately that I wanted to work with them and bring this one of a kind experience to St. Louis. They didn’t disappoint.

“Our exhibit consisted of more than 500 items from David’s personal collection and attracted visitors of all ages and backgrounds. The exhibit was a natural fit for the library as monsters and villains have lived on the shelves of public libraries from our earliest days. We saw a spike in our graphic novel checkouts during the four month run of the exhibit. I highly recommend bringing this exhibit to your organization.”

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Check out these pictures from the St. Louis Public Library

Exhibited October 2022 – January 2023


Video Testimonials!

Goldstein Museum of Design Director

Lin Nelson-Mayson interview and exhibition images 


Historic Duluth Depot Program Director

Briana Johnson interview and exhibition images


Video: Attendees share their thoughts on our exhibitions

Click this LINK for interviews and installation images (if asked, password is SMC)



SuperMonster市City! exhibits strive to be carbon neutral!

As a proud member of TerraPass, we offset 100% of CO2 emissions from shipping and related travel.

We inform host institutions of the amount of CO2 emissions upon request for use in their sustainability reports. 


For more on SuperMonster市City!

Contact email:  Stephen@SuperMonsterCity.com

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Toy photos above by Steve Zerby

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SuperMonster市City

SuperMonster市City

SuperMonsterCity! celebrates monsters, superheroes and villains in traveling exhibitions and more!

1 week ago

SuperMonster市City
Hello fiends, far and near!! We just closed out our exhibit at Science Central in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was a great exhibit with a lot of fun toys packed into display cases on the last day. I dressed up as Superman and gave docent tours to all who were interested? Do you recognize anybody in any of these display cases, tell me who? #sciencecentral #fortwayneindiana #toycollector #vintagetoys #nostalgia #museums #monster #superheroes ... See MoreSee Less
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1 week ago

SuperMonster市City
Wow and Wahoo.. here is a Fun and Monsterous lil' video of our exhibit which is now on display down in Sacramento History Museum. (These are Toys from my youth). I had a great childhood and just a part of it on display. I certainly had amazing parents. #travelingexhibit #toycollector #vintagetoys #MonsterKid #nostalgia #monsters ... See MoreSee Less
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2 weeks ago

SuperMonster市City
Goody Reel #5 From the Crypts. Vintage TV commercials full of stuff you remember and some stuff long forgotten. Music/ Dance &Food! Joe Frazier sells beer, Kool-Aid smashes thru a wall and saves the day. "Sometime time you feel like a nut..." . McDonalds, Mr. Whipple Dentyne and More!! #vintagememories #nostalgia #memorylane #supermonstercity #tvcommercial ... See MoreSee Less
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2 weeks ago

SuperMonster市City
A crazy pile of ephemera was calling out to me from the moldy pits of the Crypts. Here is a book by Johnny Weissmuller on swimming, here are some movie club flyers from when I was in high school, here are pieces of paper that nobody else probably saved, vintage photos, this and that. Take a look, what did you save? #JohnnyWeissmuller #ephemera #oldmovies #papercollection ... See MoreSee Less
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2 weeks ago

SuperMonster市City
Hello friends and fiends let’s look at a totally random box of miscellaneous toys that were calling my name and screaming to be looked at. Who they are, when they were, I don’t know all the answers. Maybe you do! If you recognize some incredible favorites then let me know who you loved and who you recognize, have a look and enjoy the fun. #toycollector #monstertoys #80stoys #coolstuff #supermonstercity ... See MoreSee Less
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2 weeks ago

SuperMonster市City
Goody Reel # 4 Monsters , Toys, Adventure and More #vintagetoys #movieclips #nostalgia ... See MoreSee Less
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Below are the logos to some of the cultural institutions that have hosted our exhibitions