Leo Monahan (artist)

Leo Monahan (January 7, 1933 – February 13, 2025) was an American artist known for his illustrious imagination, his skill at paper sculpture, and his mastery of color. Leo Monahan created vibrant multi-dimensional artworks that told stories.

Mr. Monahan was the first person to receive a Disney Art Scholarship to attend the Chouinard Art Institute. Today, Chouinard is the California Institute of the Arts. After graduation, Monahan worked with Disney for 50 years.^[1]

As a master of color, Mr, Monahan employed the advanced principles of Johannes Itten. Monahan was fascinated by the BauHaus art movement, and he taught at the California Institute of Arts, or Cal Arts. He also taught at the University of Southern California (USC) and Disney Imagineering. Later in his career, he taught collage and assemblage in his art studio, conveying basic design principles in a highly engaging manner.

In his art and in his teaching Monahan highlighted the concepts of elements in relation to one another and the power of symbols.

He was also proficient at the art of haiku. Many of his haiku poems, as well as his paper sculptures, carried the theme of fly fishing.