A tribal member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa has become the latest partner in the Duluth-based firm of DSGW Architects.
Michael Laverdure has worked four years with the 75-year-old firm, which has offices in four Minnesota cities. Mike serves as director of the firm’s First American Design Studio.
“He’s a great fit for our company,” says Randy Wagner, a managing partner in the firm. “I can’t say enough about him.”
When Mike joined the firm, he said he knew it was committed to tribal business. About 33 percent of the company’s business at that time involved tribal contracts. Since then, the tribal portion of the company’s contracts has grown to about 60 percent, Randy says.
Mike feels strongly that buildings create a community atmosphere that can promote positive outlooks and cultural integrity. “Good tribal architecture can really improve Native American communities,” he said in a recent interview.
He also felt a strong need to find a company committed to his goals and to follow the advice of his mother, Betty Laverdure, who was a tribal judge for the Turtle Mountain Band in North Dakota, who told him: “Always use your talents for the betterment of the whole, before you think of your own needs. As you do good, good will come back to you.”
Among Mike’s most recent project with the company was renovation and an addition at the Sky Dancer Casino and Hotel in his home community of Turtle Mountain. Here is approach to design projects came out clearly – incorporating elements of the northern lights (part of the sky dancer metaphor in the culture), of pow wow dancers and movement, all relating to the name of the operation.
Mike, who is an associate member of the American Institute of Architects and graduated with an architectural degree from North Dakota State University, is working on his architectural registration examinations this month. When he completes that process, he will become one of the few Native American architects in the country.
Mike is a board member of Minnesota’s American Indian Chamber of Commerce and a Sequoyah (lifetime) member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. As the outgoing president of the regional AISES chapter, he is working with others to raise funds to promote STEM activities for Native youth.
DSGW was started 75 years ago by the Damberg brothers in Virginia, Minnesota, and today still has a goal, says Randy, of “enriching communities through architecture.”
The firm offers planning, design and interior services and has worked throughout the Midwest and as far as New Mexico. It has offices in Duluth, Virginia, Grand Rapids and Lake Elmo.