Allied Artists to Host Fourth Annual Art Exhibit and Sale at Village Green

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Allied Artists of the Santa Monica Mountains & Seashore will host its Fourth Annual Art Exhibit and Sale on Sunday, July 18, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Palisades Village Green.

Local artists and longtime Palisadians Susan Flanigan and Russ Hunziker will exhibit their art at this year’s “Art on the Green” show, who shared that “after missing last year’s show because of COVID,” they are “excited to get out and participate.”

Twelve members of Allied Artists in total will be displaying and selling their original landscape paintings of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

“Proceeds from the sales help support the Village Green, and local and national conservation organizations,” according to a press release about the show.

Flanigan came to Southern California in 1982 from Wales, living in the Palisades and Malibu for more than three decades.

“When the opportunity presented itself to pursue her love of painting the great outdoors, she joined the Allied Artists of the Santa Monica Mountains and has never looked back,” the press release stated. “Her landscapes and animal portraits are in oil, and she is constantly developing her plein air skills with the mentoring of Elena Roche, Annie Hoffman and plein air workshops.”

Flanigan shared that she is “captivated by the light and shadows of the water and land,” as well as the “subtle changes that occur on a sunny day or a cloudy day,” which “never cease to amaze” her.

“I love trying to capture that hazy moment or nature’s clever light,” she shared in a statement. “For me, painting in the field is magical; to be surrounded by the color and honesty of nature is inspiring. When I paint, I am completely absorbed in all of the beauty I see.”

Hunziker has been a Palisadian since 1986, raising two daughters who attended Marquez Charter Elementary, Paul Revere Charter Middle and Palisades Charter High schools. Follwing a four-decade career as an engineer and project manager, developing “cutting-edge technology for several aerospace companies,” Hunziker is now focused on the artistic side of his brain and committed to helping conserve the local mountains.

“Nothing gives me more pleasure than hiking in the local mountains and beaches, and then being able to communicate what I feel through my landscape paintings,” he shared in the statement.

Allied Artists is a 20-year-old organization of local fine artists who paint representational art of the Santa Monica Mountains and beaches, designed to promote appreciation of the environment and local conservation and maintenance efforts. The group collaborates with organizations like Will Rogers State Historic Park, National Wildlife Federation, Mountains Restoration Trust and others.

For more information and other upcoming events, including free monthly paint-outs, visit allied-artists.com.