Freaks & Sideshows: Members' Opening Celebration

THE MAIN EVENT Thursday, July 30, 2026 5 - 8 pm FREE for Members! Just $20 for Non-Members Join us for the grand opening of Freaks & Sideshows: American Circus Banners 1920 - 1970! Prepare to feast your eyes on the towering graphic wonders, bizarre oddities, and eye-popping colors of America's historic traveling midways! Enter a world of curiosity with toe-tappin' tunes by The 1936 North American Heat Wave and jaw-dropping live spectacles from Cincinnati Circus!   Step right up and discover dangers and delights alike in Freaks & Sideshows: American Circus Banners 1920 - 1970. Often more thrilling than the acts they promoted, circus banners enticed audiences to wander through the strange and wild side of life through bold colors and designs. Freaks & Sideshows explores the people behind the banners - both the signpainters and the performers - and shares the stories behind sensational and often exploitive nature of the circus. Come be amazed by over 30 banners seen in midways across the country during the 1920s - 1970s. Freaks & Sideshows is comprised of banners on loan from the collection of Dave & Lynn Waller. Exhibit On View July 30 - October 4