Michigan City arcade, museum instills virtues through superhero characters
One store at Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets in Michigan City isn’t a store — it’s more.
Heroes Gallery Arcade and Museum on the east side of the mall is the hub of a local nonprofit that uses the legends of superheroes to instill positive values in kids.
There, the Graf Dairy Hero Foundation showcases the superhero memorabilia collection of its founder, Michigan City native Werner Graf II, and highlights the virtues each hero embodies.
“Our core charter is to evangelize habits of good character and get kids thinking about what it means to be a hero,” Graf said. “Every day, the way you act defines whether you’re going to be a hero or not, and you can make that decision with every small choice.”
Among the collectibles on display are 15 life-size sculptures of superhero characters. These allow visitors to stroll through the museum and learn about favorite characters and their ideals:
- Spiderman and the value of responsibility
- The Hulk and the importance of controlling anger
- The Avengers and the power of teamwork
- The Fantastic Four and the strength of families
- X-Men and the beauty of diversity
- Captain America and the value of integrity
“We don’t want kids growing up angry,” Graf said. “We want kids growing up optimistic and full of hope and purpose.”
Leaders also aim to take the mission of the Graf Dairy Hero Foundation broader than the lessons of the museum by giving grants for “anything that advances a child’s ability to improve themselves,” and by supporting re-investment in Michigan City, Graf said.
“We want to tie it back to the community, where we’re funneling thousands back to Michigan City,” he said. “I hope, as long as the mall traffic supports us, this is a moneymaker for the community and the school system.”
Graf Dairy Hero Foundation board member Mylese Tucker hopes so, too. She’s a longtime Michigan City resident who owns Nature’s Cupboard. She shares Graf’s enthusiasm for supporting a strong community fabric.
“He’s a really good guy who wants to give back,” Tucker said of Graf, whom she met when they were in fourth grade. “I, too, love Michigan City, and I want to see it thrive.”
The Graf Dairy Hero Foundation is named, in part, for the thriving dairy business Graf’s grandfather established in Michigan City in the 1930s and 1940s. The foundation was launched in 2023, and since then, the all-volunteer organization has taken more than 250 schoolchildren on tours through the museum and its virtues.
Thomas Lasky, a recently retired Michigan City Area Schools teacher, brought his third-graders through last year and said they “absolutely loved it because they can relate to the characters.” The lessons stuck, he could tell, because his students relayed them in paragraphs they wrote about what it means to be a hero.
“They need people to show them, ‘How should I act? What should I do in this situation?’” Lasky said. “You have to keep telling them over and over again, so hopefully they internalize it.”
For visitors stopping into Heroes at the outlet mall, there’s a $10 admission fee, then unlimited viewing of comics, point-of-sale posters and other unusual items celebrating superheroes — as well as unlimited play of arcade games.
“It’s meant to be very affordable for the community,” Graf said.
As Heroes finds its footing at the mall, the foundation got an assist from Graf’s alma mater at the University of Notre Dame. A marketing class taught by Professor Joe Urbany prepared an AI-assisted promotional plan to help the museum further spread its mission. Among the student ideas presented in the plan is one Graf hopes to implement — adding QR codes near the superhero sculptures so visitors can scan for an explanation of the positive characteristics each hero exemplifies.
The foundation also is assisted by its broad coalition of board members. Former Marvel Entertainment executive Terry Stewart is one of them. He worked at Marvel for more than six years before he led the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from 1999 to 2012. Graf said he met Stewart when he bought “the original sheet music from the development of the Spiderman cartoon.”
Unique items from Graf’s collection are one draw to the Heroes Gallery, but Graf hopes its appeal will go deeper.
“It’s meant to be that safe space and fun place to fill a gap in the community,” he said. •
Read more stories from the current issue of Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.
Flexibility for working mother
One-stop print shop
Power of collaboration
Avoid the unexpected
Childcare challenge
Beyond the prescription pad
New life for dormant buildings
Banks keep branching out
Professional advancement
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