MAJOR EXHIBITION:
The Castle Museum of Saginaw County History, Saginaw, MI
September 16, 2024 – January 1, 2025: The Castle Museum hosted Spies and Space: Toys of the Cold War Era. With the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, James Bond, robots, and aliens remaining mainstays today, the exhibit demonstrated not only where toys and popular culture have been, but how we arrived at this moment today. Beginning in the 1950s, no aspect of life was untouched by the Cold War and Space Race, which permeated both American and USSR culture for over three decades. The exhibition included the toys, games, and popular media of the day.
The venue complimented our exhibition with artifacts from other local museums pertaining to the Space Race. They augmented our exhibition by painting our floor to ceiling graphics on the walls. Barnhill delivered a talk the night of the Opening. The museum hosted a Costume Gala with freeze-dried ice cream and other space-themed snacks!
The venue reported a significant increase in attendance as well as an uptick in a younger audience.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
The Sacramento History Museum, Sacramento, CA
August 12, 2024 – January 1, 2025: The Sacramento History Museumhosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains.This exhibit features hundreds of toys, comic books, games, posters, and media. These vintage items are accompanied by interpretative signage that describes their cultural significance. The installation covered two floors of gallery space and was augmented with works by a local comic book creator. The venue supported our installation with a series of dynamic wall treatments supporting the themes of the exhibition.
The Big Daddy Roth section of our exhibition inspired the museum director to reach out to the Sacramento car culture community and created a second exhibition with items from David’s collection entitled Rat Fink: Hot Rod Monster.
The venue produced a series of social media posts with fun facts about the history of notable pop culture titans including Zorro, George Takei, and film director Ryan Coogler, who directed of the Marvel movie Black Panther.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
Science Central, Fort Wayne, IN
June 8 – September 8, 2024: Science Central is Indiana’s premier science museum hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains in their 4,500 square foot gallery space. This exhibition focuses on how pop culture, with an emphasis on science fiction, has reflected the country’s changing values and cultural tensions over the past 80 years.
America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains features hundreds of toys, comic books, games, posters, and media. These vintage items are accompanied by interpretative signage that describes their cultural significance. The exhibition is comprised of five sections, focused on the following themes:
- Unintended Consequences: The Atomic Age and America’s Search for Identity
- Truth, Justice, and The American Way: Unifying a Country’s Identity
- Innocent Monsters: Our Empathy for Outsiders
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: The Hero as Martyr
- Myths and Legends: How Star Wars Saved America
America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains was created by SuperMonsterCity. The exhibition’s items were provided by collector David Barnhill, with curator Stephen Rueff providing curation. This installation was augmented by rare objects and artifacts from a local Star Wars collector. The museum reported a longer ‘dwell time’ for museum visitors in our exhibition.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
The Dacotah Prairie Museum, Aberdeen, SD
May 24 – August 31, 2024: The Dacotah Prairie Museum hosted Spies and Space: Toys of the Cold War Era. Beginning in the 1950s, no aspect of life was untouched by the Cold War and Space Race, which permeated both American and USSR culture for over three decades. The exhibition included the toys, games, and popular media of the day. With the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, James Bond, robots, and aliens remaining mainstays today, the exhibit demonstrated not only where toys and popular culture have been, but how we arrived at this moment today.
The venue complimented our exhibition with local newspaper articles and other artifacts from their permanent collection. They augmented our exhibition by painting our floor to ceiling graphics on the walls. Barnhill and Rueff delivered a Opening Day tours of the exhibition. The venue hosted numerous educational events which sold out!
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
Sheboygan County Historical Society and Museum, Sheboygan, WI
February 3 – April 28, 2024: The Sheboygan County Historical Society and Museum hosted Spies and Space: Toys of the Cold War Era. Beginning in the 1950s, this exhibit explores how the Cold War and Space Race permeated both American and USSR culture for over three decades. No aspect of life was untouched, including the toys, games, and popular media of the day, by the arrival of international espionage, a fascination with outer space, and even the growing political tension between the world’s two newly established ‘superpowers.’ With the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, James Bond, robots, and aliens remaining mainstays today, the exhibit demonstrated not only where toys and popular culture have been, but how we arrived at this moment today.
The venue augmented our exhibition by painting our floor to ceiling graphics on the walls. Barnhill and Rueff delivered a 90 minute presentation on Opening Weekend. The venue hosted numerous educational events.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
The Great Hall, St. Louis Public Library, St. Louis, MO
October 17, 2022 – January 15, 2023: The Great Hall at the St. Louis Public Library, St. Louis, MO. hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains. Built in 1912, the 5,000 sq ft Great Hall is a magnificent example of Beaux-Arts and Neo-Classical Architecture, designed by renowned architect Cass Gilbert. SMC provided most of the display cases, with the library providing some additional cases. The library augmented our exhibition by designing and producing huge photos of our toys, floor graphic version of the SuperMonster市City! board game. The library staff also researched and presented content on monsters, censorship, and diversity in comic books. See photo gallery below.
100% of CO2 emissions for related shipping and travel were offset by TerraPass.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures, Kansas City, MO
May 21 – October 2, 2022: The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures, Kansas City, MO. The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures educates, inspires, and delights adults and children through the museum’s collection and preservation of toys and miniatures. This renowned museum hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains in their 3,500 sq ft gallery space and provided all display cases. See photo gallery below.
100% of CO2 emissions for related shipping and travel were offset by TerraPass.
EXHIBITION PREMIER:
Squirrel Haus Arts, Minneapolis, MN
April – May, 2022: , SuperMonster市City! developed a new exhibition, Collecting Memories: A Love Story and produced it at Squirrel Haus Arts, Minneapolis, MN. Collecting Memories: A Love Story is a lyrical exploration into the mind of a collector, delving into nostalgia, identity, and seeking to reveal how we all embed personal memories into pop culture objects. This mixed-media exhibit explores the ephemeral nature of memory, and seeks to stimulate waves of nostalgia in attendees The exhibit invites contemplation, reflections. and includes interactive elements allowing attendees to record and share their own memories. See photo gallery below.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
San Bernardino County Museum, CA
June 4, 2021 – August 29, 2021: The San Bernardino County Museum, in Redlands, California, is a regional museum with exhibits and collections in cultural and natural history. This museum hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains in a 3,000 sq ft gallery space. We provided all display cases. The venue reported many new patrons attended this exhibition and were highly engaged. See photo gallery below.
100% of CO2 emissions for related shipping and travel were offset by TerraPass.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
Bellevue Arts Museum, WA
September 4, 2020 – January 17, 2021: The Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA. provides a public forum for the community to contemplate, appreciate, and discuss visual culture. They work with audiences, artists, makers, and designers to understand our shared experience of the world. BAM hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains in their 4,000 sq ft second floor gallery spaces. The venue provided all display cases. This exhibition added a section on Kaiju toys from Japan. Reservations were required during COVID, and all tours were fully booked. Below is a photo gallery of highlights.
100% of CO2 emissions for related shipping and travel were offset by TerraPass.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
Hjemkomst Center, MN
October 7, 2019 – January 31, 2020: TheHjemkomst Centeris a unique and beautiful multi-use facility that hosts a variety of special exhibits and events, offering something for the entire family in Moorhead, MN, part of the Historical and Cultural Center of Clay County, hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains in a 3,500 sq ft installation space. The venue provided all display cases. This exhibition drew new audiences to the center. Click HERE for highlights from this exhibition and see the exhibitions images below.
September – October 2019: Monster Halloween Exhibit, Anoka County Historical Society, Anoka, MN, the Halloween Capital of the World!
September 6 – October 31, 2018: SuperMonster市City! curated a special scary mini-exhibit for the Anoka County Historical Society just in time for Halloween! Anoka Minnesota is the Halloween Capital of the World!
October 1 – 31, 2018: A specially curated spooky mini-exhibit for the Anoka County Library – Mississippi Branch just in time for Halloween! Anoka Minnesota is the Halloween Capital of the World!
October 12- 14, 2018: A Tribute Exhibition to the Universal Studios Frankenstein at the Trylon Cinema. A special screening of three Universal Studio films: Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and The Son of Frankenstein (1939). SMC presented a mini-exhibit of toys, posters, original artworks. The screenings drew over 500 people.
October 11, 2018: Custom Science Fiction themed mini-exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). For this 21+ event, SMC presented toys, posters, original artworks and more featuring cyborgs, mutants, and robots from the past 60 years. This event drew over 500 people!
EXHIBITION PREMIER:
Mary Shelley and Her Monster: 200 Years of Frankenstein
August 24 – September 23, 2018: This was the premier of a new exhibition Mary Shelley and her Monster: 200 Years of Frankenstein. The exhibition recounts the tale of the night that Mary Shelley conceived of the Frankenstein story, the influence of her creative contemporaries, and the evolution of the Creature over the past 200 years! Curated by SMC co-founder Stephen Rueff as part of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s 2018 Faculty Biennale, where Rueff is a professor. The exhibition includes vintage toys, books and games from SMC co-founder David Barnhill’s massive collection of Frankenstein related artifacts, as well as original artworks created by artists from around the world.
The exhibit also included our publication of the original text to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to the 200th anniversary of the first publication. Purchase a copy of the book at HERE
February 22, 2018: The Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM).
Inspired by the hit Netflix show Stranger Things, SMM attendees at this 21+ event were treated to a SuperMonster市City! curated a mini-exhibition that included 80’s themed toys from Dungeons and Dragons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
Schelfhaudt Gallery, University of Bridgeport, CT
February – March 2018: The Schelfhauldt Gallery at the University of Bridgeport, CT hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes and Villains. A truly monstrous exhibition of vintage toys, models, posters, and more, curated by SuperMonster市City! The venue provided all display cases. Opening Night was buzzing with over 200 people in attendance!
June- December 2017:The Virginia Historical Society in Richmond Virginia hosted the Minnesota History Center exhibition Toys of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. SuperMonster市City! contributed over 100 pieces to the exhibition and was allotted a free standing cases dedicated to our collection. Pick up the Companion Book which includes interviews with SMC co-founders David Barnhill and Stephen Rueff.
November 3,4, 5, 2017: Crypticon Minneapolis invited SuperMonster市City! to unearth the most diabolical, sinister, and gruesome toys, models, figures and global artifacts in a mini-exhibition (we posted a disclaimer stating we are not responsible for future therapy).
October 28, 2017: Bakken Museum for Discovery Days. SuperMonster市City! returns for a family friendly event with a mini-exhibit of spooky fun toys from the past 60 years!
October 5, 2017: Bakken Museum celebrates World Space Week. SuperMonster市City! curated mini-exhibit of robots and cyborgs. This 21+ event featured craft cocktails and cool treats and is perfect for those who are curious about the cosmos.
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
Historic Union Depot, Duluth, MN
March – April, 2017: The Historic Union Depot in Duluth, MN hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains. This 4,500 sq ft exhibition was staged in a 100+ year old train depot that is now a cultural center in Duluth, MN. SuperMonster市City! provided all display cases. This exhibition set new records for attendance and admissions. Click HERE for highlights from the exhibition.
Oct. 2016: SuperMonster市City! presents: Terrifying Tuesday Monster Film Screenings
SuperMonster市City! partnered with The Big Thrill Factory to present a specially curated month-long exhibition of the best of Minnesota made monster films!
May 2016: SuperMonster市City! presents: Friday Night Film Screenings
SuperMonster市City! partnered with The Big Thrill Factory to present a month-long film series spanning the genres of superheroes, anime, kaiju and classic horror were shown in various cinematic formats including 3D, Super-8, 16 millimeter and Blu-Ray!
MAJOR EXHIBITION:
Goldstein Museum of Design, MN
September – December, 2015: The Goldstein Museum of Design hosted America’s Monsters, Superheroes, and Villains. This 2,500 sq ft exhibition was installed in a gallery within the School of Design at the University of Minnesota. The venue provided all display cases. This exhibition set new records for donations and was 50 people shy of breaking attendance records! Click HERE for highlights from this exhibition.
MN History Center Exhibition: Toys of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, National Tour 2014 – 2018. SuperMonster市City! contributed over 100 pieces to this major touring exhibition and was given two large cases to curate.SuperMonster市City! co-founders David Barnhill and Stephen Rueff are included in the book that accompanies the exhibition.
