European-born turned Tahoe local artist, Susie Alexander founded Arts In Wellness in 2012 to bring the idea of art for health and well-being to the Tahoe community and if you’ve flown out of Reno recently, you may have noticed one of her horse murals at the airport as part of the Wild Horse Exhibit.

As an adult Susie rode in horse endurance events for a short time – sometimes up to 100 miles – She continues to use her art to support Wild horse preservation leagues and Wild horse sanctuaries.

Susie has always combined her love for art and community; besides having had a 30 year professional art career, in 2012 she also founded Arts in Wellness 501(c)3 with a vision to promote Expressive Art for health and well-being in the Tahoe community.

As an artist she believes that finding her emotional expression through art as a young child truly helped her find resolution and understanding to a childhood that on the outside appeared exotic, but on the inside often lacked emotional structure. In a way, it was a gift to her career as an artist.

Susie recently won Best Painting at Horse HeArt in Incline Village for Putting Up a Fight shown here.