First Name: William

Last Name: Noah

Full Name: William Noah

Name in syllabics: ᕕ ᓕᐊᒪ  ᓄᐊ

Alternative Names: Noah Noah

Date of birth: 1943

Place of birth: Baker Lake, Nunavut

Date of death: N/A

Place of death: N/A

Community / Heritage: Qamani’tuaq

Sex: Male

Disc Number: E2391

Website: N/A

Art Media: Drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, computer graphics software, pencils, acrylics, oils, digital prints, animations, video clips.

Bio:

William Noah was an Inuit artist born in 1944 in the Gary Lake area, Keewatin region, Nunavut. Noah is the son of Jessie Oonark, one of Baker Lake and Canada’s most distinguished artists, and brother to many accomplished artists, including Nancy Pukingrnak, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, Janet Kigusiuq, Peggy Qablunaaq Aittauq, Mary Yuusipik Singaqti, Josiah Nuilaalik and Miriam Marealik Qiyuk.

From a young age, Noah’s mother encouraged him to draw. In 1963, he began to make drawings and carvings more consistently. By 1971, he began working as a printmaker.

Over the years, Noah explored different media. He created colourful pencil drawings, acrylics, oils, digital prints, and animations. His works depicted the Arctic landscapes and its fauna, skeletons and the internal organs of both shamans and animals.

From July 1978 to May 1979, Noah served as the president of the Canadian Arctic Producers. He also served as a member of the Northwest Territories Legislature from 1979 until 1982, and was twice elected as the mayor of Qamani’tuaq.

Noah’s works have been part of several group and solo exhibitions across Canada and the US, and are represented in art collections including that of the National Gallery in Ottawa and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau.

Exhibitions

• 1970: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1971: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1972: “Baker Lake Drawings”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1973: “Baker Lake Eskimo Drawings: Six Artists”, Upstairs Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1974: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1975: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1976: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1977: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1978: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1979: “Baker Lake Prints and Print Drawings”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1977 - 1982: “The Inuit Print/L'estampe inuit”, Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
• 1979 - 1984: “Shamans and Spirits: Myths and Medical Symbolism in Eskimo Art”, Arts and Learning Services Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
• 1980: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1981: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1981: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1983: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1983: “Inuit Masterworks: Selections from the Collection of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada”, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada
• 1984: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1984: “On the Land”, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, California, USA
• 1985: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1985: “Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1986: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1986: “Die Kunst aus der Arktis”, Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany
• 1986 - 1987: “Oonark’s Family”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1987: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1988: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1988: “Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art”, Canadian Guild of Craft Quebec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• 1988: “Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1989: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1989: “Baker Lake Prints: Retrospective, 1970-1982”, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• 1989: “Baker Lake Print Retrospective: A Twenty Year Anniversary”, Upstairs Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1990: Baker Lake Print Collection, (annual collection)
• 1991: “Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art from Canada”, Bunkamura Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 1991: “Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art from Canada”, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• 1991: “Qamanittuaq: The Art of Baker Lake”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• 1991: “Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art from Canada”, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada
• 1991: “Inuit Drawings”, Albers Gallery, San Francisco, California, USA
• 1992 - 1993: “Drawings and Sculpture from Baker Lake”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1993: “Contemporary Inuit Drawings: The Gift Collection of Frederick and Lucy S. Herman”, University of Virginia, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
• 1993 - 1994: “Drawings and Sculpture from Baker Lake”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1993 - 1994: “Contemporary Inuit Drawings”, Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
• 1994: “Arctic Spirit: 35 Years of Canadian Art”, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, USA
• 1994 - 1997: “Qamanittuaq (Where the River Widens): Drawings by the Baker Lake Artists”, Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
• 1995: “Baker Lake: Uncatalogued Prints 1979-1985”, Selected Galleries, Canadian Arctic Producers
• 1995 - 1996: “Qiviuq: A Legend in Art”, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• 2000: “Arctic Spirit: Canadian Inuit Sculpture- Boise State University - 2000”, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA
• 2000: “Canadian Inuit Art from Baker Lake: Selections from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. E. Daniel Albrecht”, Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
• 2002: “Bones Beneath”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 2003: “Land of Ice, Hearts of Fire: Inuit Art and Culture”, University Gallery of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
• 2004 - 2005: “The Power of Dreams”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 2004 - 2005: “Looking Up: Contemporary Connections with Inuit Art”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 2005: “The End of Kiviok’s Journey”, The Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
• 2006 - 2007: “Sanavik Impressions”, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• 2007: “My Stories”, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2007: “Art and Cold Cash”, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2010: “Cultural Floe: Modern and Inuit Traditions”, Varley Art Gallery of Markham, Markham, Ontario, Canada
• 2010: “William Noah”, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2018 - 2019: “Jessie Oonark's Artworks: Very much alive”, La Guilde, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Collections

• Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston
• Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth
• Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage
• Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor
• Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City
• Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph
• McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
• Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
• Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• University of Alberta, Edmonton
• University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg

Articles

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Noah
• https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/when_artists_draw_pay_cheques/

Awards

• 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990 - Annual Baker Lake Print Collection