Updates
This is where the story keeps flowing. Project updates, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and the messy, beautiful work of building something new.
Painting Angela Latoi and the Quiet Power of Presence
During our first Common Waters gathering along the Nooksack, Angela Latoi waded quietly into the river's shallows in a moment of embodied stillness that spoke volumes without words. Christopher Remmers captures this fleeting gesture of tranquil unity—a woman and the water held together in golden warmth—as a painting about peace and return. With no elaborate symbolism, only presence, light becomes the language: shimmering on the water, glowing across her shoulders, linking her form to the river not just visually but spiritually. In a project filled with tension and dialogue, this quiet moment reminds us why we gather: to listen to silence, to remember belonging, and to see each person not as a representative but as a human being in communion with place.
Painting Free Borsey and the Spirit of the Nooksack
The first portrait in Christopher Remmers' series for Water Wars (how to avoid) captures Lummi fisherman Free Borsey superimposed over the Mt. Baker wilderness, with the Nooksack River glowing beneath him like a living spirit. By allowing Free's form to dissolve at the shoulders into the landscape, Remmers paints not separation but unity—a man inseparable from the waters that define his ancestral, emotional, and sacred relationship to the land. Salmon emerge from the river like spirit beings, bridging worlds and cycles, while golden light reflects across the water as if approaching the viewer directly. The painting is a portal into reverence, translating the simple, profound truth Free speaks: water is life.
Christopher Remmers on Art, River, and Relationship
Bellingham painter Christopher Remmers brings a commitment to art as transformation rather than decoration. In this introduction to a series of pieces for Water Wars (how to avoid), Remmers explains his vision of painting narrative portraits of those directly involved in Nooksack stewardship—tribal members, farmers, conservationists, and residents—not as likenesses, but as mythic mirrors reflecting how each person relates to the river and the land they call home. By listening beneath the surface of policy and politics to the sacred, ancestral, and intimate dimensions of belonging, Remmers aims to illuminate the shared thread running through all voices: the river itself, as the living watershed that feeds and connects us all.
Recap: Common Waters Gathering 2: Headwaters
On a sunny October afternoon, more than sixty people—farmers, fishers, storytellers, scientists, tribal leaders, children, and neighbors—gathered along the South Fork Nooksack River to walk the land, listen to the river, and share a meal sourced from the watershed itself. The group visited restoration sites where "old growth blackberry" is giving way to young forest gardens, stood in silence on a gravel bar as salmon meandered upstream and eagles traced the river's bends, and ended the evening at The Commons at Unity & Flora with portraits unveiled, stories shared, and powerful reminders that "the river is alive; she is gentle and she needs us to protect her." These encounters—where people from all walks of life come together in honesty and curiosity—reminded everyone that connection is the foundation of all true progress, and that the river holds that connection for all of us.
Recap: Common Waters Gathering 1: Floodplains
Lummi fishers, Nooksack storytellers, Punjabi farmers, and local leaders gathered for a day of shared stories, river walks, and farm feasts along the Nooksack—captured by a film crew who blended seamlessly into the magic. From berry fields to river sandbars, participants left titles behind to listen deeply to each other and the land, forging connection and understanding. By sunset, a sense of stewardship and hope filled the circle, as heartfelt apologies and blessings were exchanged over a meal sourced from the watershed itself.
Recap: Stewardship Council Dinner
On Friday, March 21, 2025, a diverse group of tribal members, local farmers, civic leaders, and community organizers convened for a groundbreaking gathering hosted at the South Hill home of Elie and Lisa Samuel. The event marked the launch of the Water Wars (how to avoid) project, a collaborative initiative designed to foster dialogue and cooperation in addressing water stewardship challenges in the Nooksack River watershed.