Cincinnati: American Sign Museum

I first read about the American Sign Museum when I was doing research for my new documentary I am currently working on with Sam Macon about Sign Painters. Since the Contemporary Art Center was bringing me out to Cincinnati I emailed the museum director Tod Swormstedt to see if he was available to show me around during off hours. It never hurts to ask....not only was Tod kind enough to pick me up at my hotel Tuesday morning but he spent a few hours giving me a through tour of his wildly impressive collection of signs, materials and surrounding history.

It's actually difficult for me to explain how exciting this visit was. From both a research perspective and as someone who appreciates a giant labor of love, a good collection and salvaged urban landscapes.



What I didn't quite understand at first is there is the building that currently houses the museum (Tod explained that there is double that amount in storage as well) and also the new building that he is still raising money to complete (read more about that here). I got to check out both spaces and can not wait to see the new building in it's full glory in the hopefully near future.









Below are a few images from inside the new building.




sign repair shop



More photos here & additional photos will be uploaded to the Sign Painter flickr account soon.