Now, Berkey's work is leading to new endeavors in the real world.

At age 73, Berkey, a lifelong artist and successful professional illustrator, recently closed the first exhibition of his career at Northfield's ArtOrg Moving Walls Gallery, and the outcome of the event could have a lasting effect on Berkey and the Northfield Arts community.

In little more than two months "John Berkey Observed" generated more than $100,000 in sales of some of Berkey's original paintings, dwarfing the financial success of any of ArtOrg's past exhibitions. The resounding support of the show came as a surprise to ArtOrg officials and Berkey himself.

"I was really surprised and very happy," Berkey said Thursday from his home in Excelsior. "Generally, I've always been told you're either an artist or an illustrator. It was vindication that I could make more money as fine artist; I'd never been paid that much (at one time) as an illustrator."

The exhibition was a triumph for ArtOrg as well. The group stands to gain about 40 percent of the gallery sales, which will be used to help fund future ArtOrg non-profit programs. More importantly, however, is that the buzz surrounding the exhibition has given Northfield added credibility as an arts community.

"It really has given Northfield a little bit of worldwide interest," ArtOrg Executive Director Dave Machacek said, noting ArtOrg's virtual exhibition of "John Berkey Observed" fielded a global audience, including art collectors in Singapore, Greece and Germany.

In fact, ArtOrg's eBay auction of an original 1977 conceptual art piece for the movie "Star Wars" had a French bidder in the lead before eventually being outbid by a former writer for "Saturday Night Live" and "Seinfeld." The final bid for the 7-by-6-inch sketch was $5,638.

"The success of the Berkey show puts (ArtOrg) on the map as a gallery and as an organization,"Machacek said. "I've always felt that having Northfield as a base that the sky's the limit to what we can achieve with visual arts. This proves that.

"If we work hard and make smart decisions we can continue to bring in ‘the next big thing.'"

Though a final figure for gallery sales has yet to be tallied (collectors are still contacting ArtOrg,) by most standards, clearing $100,000 in sales warrants some bragging rights.

Bob Anderson, an ArtOrg board member with 34 years of experience teaching visual arts, has long been working with artists represented by international galleries. He said the Berkey and ArtOrg should be proud of what they've been able to achieve.

"For any gallery, nonprofit or not, for an artist who has never really had a gallery show, to sell $100,000, by anyone's standards, is a phenomenal feat," Anderson said.

Like Machacek, Anderson, who helped organize the exhibition due to his friendship with Berkey, said success isn't always measured in dollars and cents.

"My whole goal in (getting Berkey an exhibition) ... was not for the money, but for people to see his work and enjoy it," he said. "The sales -- that's frosting on the cake. The number of people that turned out for the opening and and closing is another wonderful feat.

"It took a real leap of faith for ArtOrg to back this show (financially and in other capacities) ... and in this particular case it paid off rather handsomely, for the community too."

Susan Jacobsen, director of Public Programs at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is one art enthusiast who has taken notice to the work being done to promote the arts in Northfield.

"I'm very impressed with ArtOrg," she said. "The exhibitions I've seen are very engaging, and merit the regional publicity they've been getting."

Though she's only an hour to the north, Jacobsen admitted she hadn't been to Northfield in about a decade prior to the formation of ArtOrg, but has made the trip twice during the past year.

"People are really taking notice to the contributions ArtOrg's making to the printmaking community," she said.

The future

Machacek said ArtOrg will continue to focus on fostering a passion for arts with area residents in the future.

"Part of ArtOrg's goal is to bring wonderful artists to Northfield so people can experience them," he said. "On the other hand, we want to support local artists. In this instance we were able to do both."

Seeing what he was able to do in Northfield, Berkey recently dusted off the more than 300 paintings in his private collection and made the decision to archive them in an safe, climate-controlled environment.

At 73, he's ready to begin a new life as a fine artist.

"There's an awful amount of work here that could be shown and, hopefully, will be shown again," he said. "I just hope that I can do it again with Dave (Machacek,) Kari (Alberg) and Bob (Anderson) again, because they were so wonderful. Plus, I've always loved that little town of Northfield."

-- Dan Iverson can be reached at 645-1122 or diverson@northfieldnews.com.

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