Geppi's Entertainment Museum

Geppi's Entertainment Museum
Established September 8, 2006
Location 2nd floor, Camden Yards Baltimore, Maryland
Director Melissa Geppi-Bowersox, President
Website Official website
First edition comic books
Disney collectibles from 1928 to 1945

Geppi's Entertainment Museum is a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) privately owned pop culture museum located at historic Camden Station at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. The museum chronicles the history of pop culture in America from the 17th century to today as made popular in newspapers, magazines, comic books, movies, television, radio and video games. It features a large and varied collection of nearly 60,000 pop culture artifacts, including magazines, movie posters, toys, buttons, badges, cereal boxes, trading cards, dolls, figurines - and memorabilia of every conceivable category!. Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is located in downtown Baltimore's historic Camden Station at Camden Yards, directly above the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards and adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Background

The museum is owned by Stephen A. Geppi, President and CEO of Diamond Comics Distributors, and The majority of the artifacts come from Geppi's private collection. In 2007, Geppi's daughter Melissa "Missy" Geppi-Bowersox became the Executive Vice-President of the Geppi’s Entertainment Museum; in 2012, Melissa Geppi-Bowersox was promoted to President.

The museum's founding curator was Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg, former editor at Gemstone Publishing. In 2011 Andy Hershberger was promoted to Associate Curator/Registrar, and has since worked with Melissa Geppi-Bowersox in the creation of a curatorial advisory committee.

In 2012, the museum store was renamed Geppi's Comic World (formerly: Flashbacks) in honor of Geppi’s former comic chain. Zachary Winland is the current manager of Geppi's Comic World.

Exhibits

The museum is composed of several galleries devoted to different eras of pop culture, as well as a temporary exhibit space for rotating exhibits. The standing galleries are:

Special Edition: Temporary Exhibits

Geppi’s Entertainment Museum has been host to a wide range of rotating exhibits on topics such as Star Wars, the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, and previews of upcoming toys. As of August 2014, the current exhibit is Milestones: African Americans in Comics, Pop Culture and Beyond. Developed and curated by Michael Davis, co-founder of Milestone Media, it is scheduled to run through December 2014.

Events

Zombie Gras

Geppi's Entertainment Museum's Zombie Gras is a yearly event timed to coincide with Mardi Gras. During Zombie Gras, patrons gather at Geppi's Entertainment Museum and are transformed into zombies - then unleashed to shamble on the streets of Baltimore. Once on the prowl, these organized undead descend upon participating restaurants: restaurants eager to satisfy the hunger of the undead with great food at prices to die for.

The next Zombie Gras, titled Zombie Gras 3, is taking place on March 30, 2013.

Pirates & Princess Party

Geppi’s Entertainment Museum’s Pirate & Princess Party is an annual party thrown during the summer season. At the Pirates & Princess Party young kids are encouraged to dress up as pirates or royalty and explore the museum’s many rooms – all brimming with special activities.

There are games, prizes, stories and food aplenty to keep all entertained.

Awards and recognition

The museum is featured in the 2008 Free Comic Book Day edition of Archie Comics Archie's Pal Jughead. The story, "Night at the Entertainment Museum," involves Archie and Jughead getting a job as night watchmen at the museum. Owner Steve Geppi and founding curator Arnold T. Blumberg also appear in the story.

Footnotes

    Coordinates: 39°17′6″N 76°37′11″W / 39.28500°N 76.61972°W / 39.28500; -76.61972

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/31/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.