In 1974, Nancy Holt was commissioned to create a temporary site-responsive work for Artpark, an experimental public art program in Lewiston, New York, as part of its seasonal artist residency program. She selected an overgrown and overlooked site along the Niagara River and arranged six pools of water in the pattern of the stars that form Hydra’s head.

After completing the earthwork Hydra’s Head in 1974, Nancy Holt began work on the unfinished film Niagara in 1975. A series of studies of water flowing along the river, the film observes the constant changes taking place on its surface.