Adirondack History Center Museum

Adirondack History Center Museum will catalogue and conserve the newly acquired collection of more than 550 toys and prototype models by toymaker and theme park designer Arto Monaco. Project activities will include engaging the services of a wooden objects conservator; purchasing metal shelving and rehousing supplies; upgrading the museum's collections management software; and increasing the collection manager position to full-time to undertake the work. The conservator will advise on object handling and rehousing, propose treatment plans for three fragile objects, develop a conservation plan to be phased in over the next three years, and provide a training workshop for museum staff, volunteers, and board members of local museums. The project will not only preserve Arto Monaco's legacy, but will also make his pieces available to the staff for research, education, exhibits, and programs that share an understanding of the context and history of tourism in the Adirondacks in the mid-twentieth century.