Artist and theme park designer Arto Monaco was born November 15, 1913 at Elizabethtown, New York. He was commissioned by Charles R Wood to design a train station for Storytown USA Family Fun Park, Lake George, New York, now the Great Escape.
Arto Monaco was a 1937 graduate of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. After graduation he worked in Hollywood for MGM, Paramount, Warner Brothers, and Disney Studios.
He enlisted in the army four years later and helped set up a German village for training soldiers for street fighting.
In the 1950’s, Arto set up a toy making business with his brother Jim Monaco. Arto Monaco toys made wooden and educational toys.
When his theme park “Land of Make Believe” located in Upper Jay, N.Y. closed in 1979, he continued designing toys and parks.
The following are several pencil on fiberboard drawings for a Storytown train station.
Detail studies:
edited by Tom Lynch, Collections Manager
contact: [email protected]
Source: The Charles R Wood Collection.
Warren County NY Historical Society.
For more information of the life of Arto Monaco please see the following link to the Arto Monaco Archive Youtube video.