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!
Trivia trivia trivia. Let’s look at the Sacramento County Museum’s trivia questionnaire from our recent exhibit in California. Even I don’t know all the answers. Let’s see what you know. Enjoy. ![]()
#trivia #popculture #supermonstercity #toycollector #MonsterKid
Real quick, let’s take a look at a science fiction anthology coloring book. This coloring book from 1974 is full of the great classics of science fiction. Listen to me rant and rave about what I do know and what I don’t know. If you get a chance, read any of these books and tell me what you think. Thanks. #supermonstercity #coloringbook #sciencefiction #hgwells #scifi #scififantasy
Here is a quiet little video of me at the Old Operating Museum in London. It felt very somber & hushed and I had to be very respectful because once upon a time people passed on in this very space. #medicalhistory #supermonstercity #londontourist #spookyvibes
Here are some more pictures of the Old Operating Theatre Museum I took in London. This museum is in a forgotten attic above a throbbing disco club. You climb a winding spiral staircase to find a forgotten past where everything was cured with a saw, a drill and herbs from the garden. They had an interesting interactive component with diseased elves, and you had to decide what disease each elf on the shelf had. I thought it very excitingly horrific, the entire place isn’t very big, but it’s full of lots and lots of medical history. If you get the time, climb the spiral staircase to the forgotten past and immerse yourself and forgotten medical history and be glad we’ve come as far as we have. #supermonstercity #londonmuseum #londontourism #medicalhistory
Here are some cool stuff I got for Christmas... heroic fans with candy plus a cool fabric monster bandana, and a neat dinosaur that I don’t know the origin of. What did you get for Christmas? What toys did you buy? Enjoy.  #supermonstercity #toycollector #MonsterKid #funstuff
Here are six books I recommend and enjoyed. There are books about comic book creators, comic store, history, Dick Tracy, and more. Take a look and then tell me what you’re reading. What do you enjoy? Thanks again. #supermonstercity #dicktracy #comicshop #thegoon #tradepaperback #YAFiction #DreamHaven #BillFinger #batman
Below are the logos to some of the cultural institutions that have hosted our exhibitions
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