Grant to help preserve Arto Monaco battle diorama
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Jan. 20—PLATTSBURGH — The famed Arto Monaco (1913-2003) arranged "ships and men according to historical fact," (his words) in a diorama depicting the battles of Valcour Island and Plattsburgh.
The late Upper Jay artistic genius captured the battles 1/64th their actual size in a nine-foot-long by six-foot-high model commissioned by the Plattsburgh Rotary Club at a cost of $10,000.
It was unveiled on September 29, 1976 at the Clinton County Historical Museum, where it was on permanent display in City Hall, according to a press release that appeared in the Press-Republican on the same date.
The diorama was packed up with CCHA's subsequent moves, and 46 years on, it needs some work.
CONSERVATION GRANT
The Clinton County Historical Association received a Conservation Treatment Grant from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network for the conservation of Monaco's diorama.
"CCHA was thrilled to get this grant," Helen Nerska, museum director, said.
"We consider it the first phase in preparing the diorama to be exhibited as Arto Monaco originally intended for all to enjoy."
He was born November 15, 1913 to an American mother, Ida Martin, and Louis Monaco, an Italian immigrant and hospitality entrepreneur.
Artist/illustrator Rockwell Kent noticed Monaco's drawings in his father's restaurant.
With Kent's encouragement and that of a neighbor, Mrs. Wells, who had a close relationship with Mrs. Pratt, head of Pratt Institute, Monaco, who didn't have a high-school education, tested and was admitted to Pratt Institute, where he studied drawing, painting, graphic design and ceramics, according to a Mountain Lake PBS 2015 video, "A Castle in Every Heart: The Arto Monaco Story."
Monaco graduated from Pratt in 1937, returned to Upper Jay for a spell, before heading west to Hollywood.
An Adirondack Peter Pan "who could see the world through a child's eyes," Monaco was a theme park designer (Old McDonald's Farm, Storytown, now Great Escape, and Frontier Town), toy designer (Arto Monaco's Toy Co., Hasbro, Mattel, Ideal Toy Co), cartoonist (Disney), Hollywood studio artist (Paramount, Warner Brothers, MGM), and celebs interior decorator (Charlie Chaplin, Fanny Brice, Ray Milland, etc.).
Monaco's close-to-home park designs include Julian Reiss' vision, Santa's Workshop — North Pole, the first U.S. theme park, in Wilmington, and his very own child-centered, flood-ravaged Land of Makebelieve (1954-1982) in Upper Jay.
BICENTENNIAL GIFT
The Lake Champlain battles' diorama was a gift to CCHA from the Plattsburgh Rotary, who commissioned the work for the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial celebration.
The diorama, on exhibit in CCHA Museum at 98 Ohio Ave. on the Old Base Museum Campus, depicts in exceptional detail both the Battle of Valcour and the Battle of Plattsburgh and is used to help tell the story of the Lake Champlain battles that influenced the entire history of the nation.
The NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Grant Treatment Program is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The conservation work will be carried out at the museum by Jennifer Baker.
"Conservator Jennifer Baker will be working with us to repair the surfaces and has suggested next steps after the surfaces have been conserved," Nerska said.
"The vitrine covering the diorama has seen years of wear and tear and needs to be replaced."
During the diorama's fabrication, financial considerations forced Monaco to use fewer materials than he would have preferred, according to the 1976 P-R article.
"Models, he noted, are very expensive, and he could only spend what the Rotarians granted him.
"He jokingly related with more funds or time the project 'could have stretched from here to Montreal.'
"The artist was able to give only three months to the diorama because of other work and personal considerations.
"Monaco said working on the project, however, was not only great fun, but educational as well. He claimed he learned more about the battles and the Revolutionary War from the diorama than he had ever learned in school."
Although the exhibit was highly detailed, it was not difficult to construct in his estimation.
Monaco was assisted by two other artists, including his niece, Linda Denton, also of Upper Jay, according to the article.
NARRATIVE COMPONENT
The narrative, while historic in itself as it was created and narrated by the late Dr. Carl Engelhart, needs to be shortened a little.
"The base of the diorama has a series of lights built in that work with the narrative to show where on the lake the narrator's story is taking you," Nerska said.
"This is more difficult to see or appreciate for anyone restricted by height or a wheelchair so we would like to add a video version.
"The work that went into this diorama decades ago was done with such precision you can see the cannons, the oars in the water, the boats burning and the sailors in the water or managing the sails. "While CCHA has many wonderful artifacts, this, like the Aikin Rifle, is on our 'must see' list at the museum."
NOT HIS FIRST RODEO
One of Monaco's earliest projects was creating "European-like villages" for the training of U.S. soldiers shipping out to the European Theater during in World War II.
Author John Steinbeck and director Lewis Milestone, regular patrons of Monaco's Restaurant, convinced the artist to return to Hollywood to illustrate storyboards for the 1939 Hal Roach Studios film, "Of Mice and Men."
His Tinseltown sojourn was interrupted when he got a 1941 draft notice.
Monaco enlisted into the U.S. Army while his childhood sweetheart/wife, the former Gladys "Glad" Burrell stood by his side.
Master Sgt. Monaco volunteered his artistic talent and ideas, which were put to use for signs ('Do not put cigarettes in latrine"), a large-scale working model camera lens, and Annadorf, a secret California training facility, which was a German town complete with pop-up Nazi snipers. Think of an analog version of "Call of Duty."
Monaco helped set up the first Training Aids Division, according to Adirondack Experience Library, Guide to the Arto Monaco Papers (MS 18-004).
The CCHA diorama is not the only one Monaco designed locally.
The 9' X 12' scale model of Heart's Delight Farm in Chazy was landscaped by him with his niece.
The landscaping was one of the last creations by the North Country legend, who is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Upper Jay.
Email Robin Caudell:
Twitter:@RobinCaudell
