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.”
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
SuperMonsterCity! celebrates monsters, superheroes and villains in traveling exhibitions and more!
Here are some pictures of me at the Batman unmasked exhibition in London. It is a pretty phenomenal overview of Batman’s history throughout the last 80 years. If you’re in London and get a chance, check it out. 
Here are some pictures of me from when I wandered through the catacombs of Paris in November. It is a somber amazing place full of bones, history and architectural marvels. If you get a chance, go take a look.  #supermonstercity #catacombsofparis #catacombs #spooky #paristourisme
If you are close by the Sacramento History Museum then make sure to drop by and see the cool toys on display. They will be on exhibit till Jan.5th. Hundreds of amazing toys, both famous and forgotten. Heroes, Villains, Monsters, Aliens, Robots and so much more. Family friendly, multi-generational with something for everybody. The iconic characters of our pop-culture... check it out
While I was in London over Thanksgiving, I had a chance to visit several exhibits full of strange, unusual, heroic and amazing stuff. First off, I went to a museum of oddities. I also went to the Young Victorian & Albert museum, full of toys. I went to a Batman exhibit in Covent Gardens and I went to an old operating theater full of ancient medical apparatus. Take a look, make comments…#spooky #batman #odditiesandcuriosities #londonmuseums #supermostercity
Here are some postcards from the catacombs of Paris . It is a marvel of human engineering, a creepy place full of somber energy.  #catacombsofparis #postcards #paristourisme #supermonstercity
Let me tell you about an artist friend of mine named Dean Norman. He was my father‘s best friend in college and they were friends throughout my father‘s life. In 1955 he came and did some interesting art in my parents bathroom. He is the author of several books and made a career at Hallmark cards, Hannah Barbera, and Disney. Take a look at his work and look him up on Amazon if you want. Thanks, Cheers to you Dean  #deannorman #supermonstercity #hallmarkcards #friendlyhumor (and not Dean Norman the tattoo artist, ) Dean has books available on amazon... or ebay.
Below are the logos to some of the cultural institutions that have hosted our exhibitions
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