Retirement Announcement: Celebrating 50+ Years of Artistry

After 52 years of dedication, Rick Emmons, Sign Shop Manager and the artist behind many of the iconic Holiday World murals and logos will retire at the end of this month.

Emmons’ artistry has beautified the Southern Indiana theme park over the last 5 decades, and his work will continue to brighten the days of future generations at the park from his large murals in Santa’s Merry Marketplace, building murals, and more.

Throughout his career, Emmons has created thousands of signs, logos, and renderings by hand, and revolutionized the sign shop’s operations with digitized art development. Despite embracing modern techniques, Emmons’ talent for large-format, hand-painted murals remains unparalleled.

“We can never thank Rick enough for sharing his talent with us for more than half a century,” says Leah Koch-Blumhardt, Fourth-Generation Owner of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari. “He has quite literally shaped our parks through his murals and signs, and we’re so much better for it. He’s been here through three of our four generations of Koch ownership, and I speak for my entire family when I say that I’m so grateful we’ve had the joy of working with him. He is a wonderful painter, but an even more wonderful person.”

Emmons began working seasonally when the park was still Santa Claus Land, in 1972. He began working full-time in 1975. Of the 78 years the park has been open, Rick has worked exactly two-thirds of them.

Holiday World isn’t the only place Emmons’ work can be found. He has painted murals for many buildings and churches in the area throughout the years.

“We wish Rick all the best in retirement,” adds Koch-Blumhardt. “It’s truly the end of an era. Please join us in congratulating Rick on an outstanding career.”