‘Framework’ celebrates Turtle

The “Framework Project,” a unique public art project, will highlight the Turtle building in Niagara Falls, NY, commencing at 2:30 p.m. today and on view through September. The Framework Project highlights buildings in Western New York with an antique picture frame that showcases locations that impact and shape our landscape. While so doing, it transforms Western New York locations into an immersive and interactive art gallery.

The Turtle is an iconic building created by, for and about Indigenous heritage, arts and culture. It was recently designated as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The annual list “raises awareness about the threats facing some of the nation’s greatest treasures.” The Turtle (Native American Center for the Living Arts) was originally founded in 1971, with the building created between 1977 and 1981 by Arapaho architect Dennis Sun Rhodes and Tuscarora sculptor Duffy Wilson in Niagara Falls, NY. The Turtle’s construction was a result of a growing awareness on the part of the Haudenosaunee for self-determination and preservation of their arts and culture. For fifteen years The Turtle served as a cultural center for the Native American community nationally; it was the largest center for Indigenous arts in the Eastern United States. Eventually folding for lack of funding in 1995, it was sold to a real estate development firm; the three-story, 67,000 square foot building has sat vacant and unmaintained for thirty years of ownership.

"The Framework Project is about visibility—taking the time to stop and appreciate the views that we may take for granted in our daily lives while at the same time, giving community organizations a voice and reminding us what a special community we have right here in Western New York."

Friends of the Niagara Turtle join with the Framework Project to unveil the latest frame in Cataract House Park (110 Old Main St. in Niagara Falls ) at 2:30 pm on Saturday, July 26th in Niagara Falls, directly across from the Turtle building, “framing it” as a work of art.

Friends of the Niagara Turtle is a local community-based nonprofit group formed to promote landmark status for the building and to bring together interested parties to “reawaken the Turtle” as a viable Native arts and cultural center. The coalition includes Indigenous representatives, including the only tribally affiliated indigenous architect in New York, museum professionals, historic preservation specialists, tourism promoters and scholars.