SCAJAQUADA BABY

Now at the Buffalo History Museum is an exhibit of photos of Scajaquada Creek. This once pristine stream, meandering through Cheektowaga and Buffalo, has been diverted, damned, fought over and polluted, but is gaining new respect. The exhibit at the History Museum was organized by the Grant-Amherst Business Association from their Black Rock Historic Photo Collection. 

  

The Buffalo/Niagara Riverkeepers have organized community cleanups each year, pulling out shopping carts, tires, plastics and other typical debris. I volunteered for one Riverkeepers cleanup and was presented with a doll dragged out of the murky waters. “Scajaquada Baby” became the centerpiece for this assemblage. In the background is my photo of the creek as seen under an ancient bridge along the bike path. A map of the creek is painted on the left inside wall of the box. The outside panel is painted with miniature graffiti based on the walls of a nearby abandoned factory. Altogether, it’s a “neighborhood in a box” and my little bit of Scajaquada history. 

The exhibit at the History Museum continues through March 23.