Emma Noyes: Continuing the Conversation

Emma Noyes (b. 1985, sńʕaýckstx uł sx̌ʷýʔłpx, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), Continuing the Conversation, 2025, latex paint, 200 x 152 in. (508 x 386 cm). Commissioned by the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, collection of the artist. Photo by Dean Davis.

Emma Noyes (Sńʕaýckstx/Sinixt/Lakes and Sx̌ʷýʔłpx/Colville tribes, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) is an artist, author, and researcher transfixed with the geography of story and the power of connection. She is committed to creating a visual and written universe of Tribal Plateau Indigeneity and dedicated to creating a future where Indigenous people and people of color thrive and enjoy whole-person wellness through connection to culture and community. She and her husband, Jake LaMere (Rocky Boy Chippewa Cree, descendant of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), collaborated to design and paint the "Continuing the Conversation" mural over 7 days in April of 2025. Emma's artwork frequently invites Mole Woman, a powerful being from chaptix stories, taking center stage. In this mural, Mole Woman offers a cup of coffee to the Raven from Ric Gendron's mural, who is seated with Mole at an improvised tule-mat coffee table located on the land outside of a Nespelem encampment.