William Noah

William Noah is a sculptor and graphic artist from Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU. Born in 1943 to renowned graphic artist Jessie Oonark, Noah was encouraged by his mother to draw and began making works more as of 1963. Much of Noah’s early life is marked by starvation and struggling to survive changing caribou migration and fires that stripped areas of animals for hunting. Eventually, most of the family was evacuated to Qamani’tuaq. Many of his siblings also became artists in their own right, including Janet Kigusiuq Uqayuittuq (drawing, print, and textiles), Victoria Mamnguqsualuq Kayuryuk (silkscreen and stencil), Josiah Nuilalik (sculpture), Nancy Pukirniq, Miriam Qiyuq (wall hangings and sculpture), and Peggy Qablunaaq Aittauq (sculpture), as well as his wife, fellow artist and printmaker, Martha Noah.
Noah used photographs to create paintings and coloured pencil drawings using canvas, paper, and plywood. Mainly interested in the landscape and the animals inhabiting it, Noah often presents his own view of living in a settlement and the urbanization of Qamani’tuaq. He also became a printmaker in 1965. In addition to his art, William is active in community affairs, serving as the president of Canadian Arctic Producers in 1978-1979. He has also been president of the Sanavik Cooperative and is a former Chairman of the Baker Lake Hamlet Council. A former member of the Northwest Territories Legislature, Noah was also elected mayor of Qamani'tuaq twice.
Noah’s works have been exhibited internationally and his prints were included in the Baker Lake annual print collections from the 1970s to the 1990s.