Everyone has a different definition of retirement. For Larry and Barbara Berkowitz, it meant relocating to Sedona to open a gallery in Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village and working in said gallery at least four days a week. Larry practiced law in New York for almost 40 years and Barbara was a science teacher at a residential school for children with emotional issues for 23 years. Larry had always been passionate about photography, which prompted the couple to open Natural Eclectic gallery in Nyack, New York, in 1994. But Barbara always dreamed of living out West, and when the couple’s oldest daughter settled in Flagstaff and gave birth to Barbara and Larry’s first grandchild, they packed up shop and moved to Sedona in 2003. The Berkowitzes opened Inner Eye Gallery that same year.
Inner Eye represents approximately 50 artists with an emphasis on kaleidoscopes, woodwork and copper. There’s also a good mix of sculpture, jewelry, fountains and gourd art in the 700-square-foot space. The gallery boasts interesting wood-beamed ceilings, the building’s original tile floor and a small garden area featuring metal sculpture. The couple, who have been married 49 years, say they have three criteria for choosing artists: They both have to like the work, the quality has to be “top shelf” and they have to like the artist. “Everything here is handmade by American craftsmen,” says Barbara. “The artists are primarily from the Southwest, but some come from elsewhere. We represent them because their work is unique.”
Though Larry doesn’t have the opportunity to photograph as much as he used to because the gallery keeps him so busy, he says he enjoys meeting the eclectic people who frequent the gallery. “Tourists ask the most unusual questions,” he says. “We had a guy in here – a nice, well-dressed guy – who said he thought the red rocks were spectacular. ‘How do they get so big?’ he asked. He was dead serious. I couldn’t help it, I told him that we water them. He didn’t react strangely to that at all. He said, ‘Okay,’ and he just kept shopping.” – Erika Ayn Finch. Photo by L.S. Berkowitz.
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