Hometown
Heroes: Medicine and Art
Richard
Willis. Daniela Schweitzer. Lou D’Elia
SUSAN CLOKE
Columnist
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| The Joy of Being Read To Artist Richard Willis |
The Joy of
Being Read To, Turn the Page and Shhh are the titles of three of the
sculptures on display at the Essentia showroom and Art Gallery at 2430 Main
Street in Ocean Park.
Whimsical and witty, romantic and philosophical,
the sculptures are displayed in the windows capturing the attention of
passers-by and bringing them into the Essentia showroom.
The sculptures are the work of longtime Ocean
Park neighborhood dentist, Dick Willis.
From the late 1970’s on, Willis, who lived in Ocean Park with his wife
Cecile and sons Aaron and Joe, walked every day to his Main Street dental
office.
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| Shhh Door Knocker Artist Richard Willis |
The Willis’ still live in Ocean Park, their sons
are grown. The dental practice was
sold and Willis is now an artist.
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| Turning the Page Artist Richard Willis |
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| Workers Carrying Buckets Artist Daniela Schweitzer |
The once bare white walls of the Essentia showroom display paintings that burst with color and energy, landscapes of place and emotion.
Images of dancers, workers, people talking, show us life in Central And South America and are the work of Daniela Schweitzer who is a Clinical Genticist at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles and an artist.
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| Fast Milonga Artist Daniela Schweitzer |
For several years Lou D’Elia and his partner, the architect Mike Salazar, walked by the Essentia showroom on Main Street and wondered about the large and bare space with some mattresses on display. They never saw anyone in the showroom.
It was D’Elia’s background in art and his
appreciation for other artists that drew him into the Essentia showroom on a
day when he say people inside.
It was a moment of serendipity.
D’Elia met the owner, a Canadian with only a few showrooms in the U.S.,
and they talked art.
D’Elia told the owner, “It’s a gorgeous store
and it looks like a gallery space.
If you would agree to my putting up art shows here I think it would be
good for the artists and bring more people into the store.”
D’Elia, the third medical person in this story,
is a neuropsychologist who was formerly on the faculty at the Geffen School of
Medicine at UCLA and is continuing his work now as a consultant to neurologists
assisting in assessing the cognitive functioning capabilities of their
patients. He is also an assemblage
artist. “Getting older,” said D’Elia, who will be 64 in March, “I want to go more fully into being an
artist.”
Willis, Schweitzer and D’Elia also share an
interest and a curiosity about the larger world, a focus on their own community
and a commitment to family and friends.
Dick and Cecile Willis took an around the world
trip in 1971 and 1972, experiencing the beauty of the Taj Mahal, the extreme
poverty of India, a visit to a then very peaceful Afghanistan and to a modern Iran. They saw ancient art and Sufis and
whirling dervishes and went to shops in caves.
Willis said they felt welcome everywhere they
went. But they came back to Ocean
Park to live.
Lou D’Elia, born and raised in Ocean Park, is a
history buff. He is the custodian
of the estate of Pancho Barnes and the archivist of the Pancho Barnes papers, he
and Salazar are the owners and preservationists of an Ocean Park Cultural
Landmark house, and a classic car aficionado who organizes a 3rd
Tuesdays classic car night as part of Food Truck Tuesdays in Ocean Park.
Daniela Schweitzer, born in Argentina, has
studied art since she was a child.
She studied medicine in Argentina.
As part of her studies she came to UCLA for a residency and met the man
who would become her husband, Tom Rothenbucher, on the Big Blue Bus.
Moving to the U.S. meant redoing all her medical
certifications. While she was
meeting all the requirements for practicing medicine in the U.S. she also volunteered
on art programs at her daughter Natasha’s school and supported art in the
community.
Being an artist reemerged as a central focus in
her life only about three years ago.
Inspired by the landscape of the ocean and by Natasha’s study of dance Schweitzer
joined an artists’ group and began painting again.
Getting older seems to the common denominator to
a boom of art making and community building in Santa Monica. Or maybe just a continuum of the high
energy of Santa Monica with its amazing history of art and artists, creativity
and leadership.
Three different patterns of life, but all
informed by curiosity and generosity. These three people, like so many Santa
Monicans, have used their gifts to create meaning in their own lives and to be
builders of our shared community.
