Big Turtle Riverbox

Use Policy

Big Turtle Riverbox, created by artist Margaret McAdams in 2007, was one of the original six Riverboxes. The sculpture was recreated in 2016 and again in 2020 after being damaged. It is now in its third location in Dublin’s Scioto Park.

The Scioto River was a natural travel route for the Native Americans between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. What we now call Riverside Drive and Dublin Road were once trails used by Native Americans and later by settlers. The Wyandot Indians were prevalent in the Dublin area and did not live here but camped, hunted and traveled along the river and trails to and from their primary village in what we now call Upper Sandusky. Ancient Indian cultures called Hopewells built a ceremonial mound in the vicinity of Scioto Park. Just about a mile north of Scioto Park was the location of the great Wyandot Chief Leatherlips’s encampment before his execution in 1810. A grave marker is located on Riverside Drive, about a mile north of the park on the right side of the road.

For more information about Big Turtle, visit dublinarts.org and click on the Art in Public Places and Riverboxes tabs.

Dublin Arts Council commissioned the creation of Riverboxes™, artist-created vessels inspired by the hobbies of letterboxing and geocaching that combine map-reading or GPS skills and artistic pursuit with delightful ”treasure hunts” in beautiful, scenic places. Riverboxes contain a unique artist-made stamp, journal and historical and environmental information for visitors to discover in Dublin parks along the banks of or connected to the Scioto River and its tributaries. Clues to the locations of the discreetly installed Riverboxes can be found in the Riverbox listings on this site. Community participants are encouraged to bring a personal journal and an ink stamp, either handmade or commercially produced, as they search for the Riverboxes. Letterboxing/geocaching hobbyists often mark their journals with the ink stamps discovered at each location and, in turn, imprint the site’s journal with their own ink stamp. The Riverboxes project is part of Dublin Arts Council’s Ripple Effect: Artistic Impact of the Scioto River program.

Dates

Purchased: 2016
Installed: 2016

Additional Notes

GPS COORDINATES
N 40° 07.008'
W 083° 06.730'

Scioto Park is located on Riverside Drive, north of Route 161 and Emerald Parkway and just south of Hard Road. There is ample parking in both the upper and lower levels of this park. Plenty of parking is available. Dublin parks are open dawn to dusk.

Clues
Inspired by the Huron tribe’s creation myth, found here.
• Park your car down below, by the shelter house.
• Make your way toward the river, to the grassy, rocky knoll, and there you will find what you are seeking.

For More Info

Call 614-889-7444

Visit website

Location

Scioto Park, 7377 Riverside Dr., Dublin, Ohio, 43065
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Please note: The Greater Columbus Arts Council (Arts Council) does not own or manage any public art. For the purposes of this database many pieces were entered by the Arts Council while we continue to search for the appropriate owner/manager of the work and other information to complete the entry. The Arts Council has tried to gather all available information about the works in this database, however, we acknowledge there may be missing or inaccurate information. If you can help us correct any inaccuracies, or provide more complete information, we would be grateful. Please use “Something missing? Please send us a note” below.

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Type

Public Art

Artist

Name: Margret McAdams
Statement: In her statement regarding the Riverboxes project, McAdams writes, “As a professor at a university in rural south-central Ohio, I laud any opportunity to impact the arts in the Appalachian community where I live, whether as an artist or as an ambassador of the arts. Although Dublin is fifty miles north, the Scioto River links our communities, both metaphorically and literally. I can only anticipate the enriching experience this project will afford.” Philosophically, McAdams is also interested in the river. She writes, “The river represents direction, continuity, movement, flow and passage.”

Margaret McAdams of Kingston, Ohio is a Professor of Art at Ohio University-Chillicothe. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Washington University, St. Louis, and is proficient in a variety of media, including ceramics, photography, installation and drawing. She has exhibited her work regionally, nationally and internationally, and in 2005 was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artists Fellowship.