By Sonjie Johnson
“We want it,” Mike Zaccardi said, and pulled out his checkbook. It was 1993, and he was making a down payment on a renovated church without his wife’s pre-approval. “It was perfect.” He was right.
On the market for over a year, the owner of the former Babtist church sent out flyers to local photographers, in the hope that the church could become a home and studio. Serendipity, an ongoing theme in Mike’s life, brought the flyer to Mike’s mailbox at just the right time.
The former Baptist church had been totally renovated. A three-level structure, the main floor had a huge, eastern exposure, beaming light on the oak floors. The sanctuary became the great room with living and dining; the kitchen, master bedroom and bath. The large basement was perfect for Marjorie’s art studio and Mike’s photography business. They bought it, and these two entrepreneur artists-all-their lives have lived and worked in the Como Park neighborhood ever since. I sat down with them recently.
Mike was born and raised on east side St. Paul, Marjorie in California. They met in Santa Barbara when Marjorie was at UCSB and Mike was at the Brookings Institute of Photography. They have been together for 50 years.
Marjorie is a storied water color and oil artist. Her work has been shown in literally hundreds of solo, national, international and juried exhibitions. Ribbons cover one wall in her showcase room. Twice a year, they open their church/home for Marjorie’s art show, where she sells paintings and greeting cards, along with Mike’s travel photos. Venues like The St. Paul Art Crawl, Art Resources Gallery, IMS Building, and the Edina location continue to show her work. Marjorie has had two art shows in Switzerland.
During the pandemic, Marjorie started an outdoor yard show once a year, since she couldn’t do indoor shows. It turned out to be her most lucrative sale that year, and she has continued that tradition. The couple also created a garden in the large lot by the structure. It has been nominated several times in city wide gardens contests.
Marjorie serves on the board for the MN Artist Association (Minnesota’s oldest group, founded in 1937). And, previously, the board for Music in the Park, the chamber music series in St. Anthony Park. A dedicated classical music fan, Marjorie has played the piano since she was seven. Because of the space and ambiance of their home, they have hosted several after-concert parties for international musicians, an event that included as many as 45 guests.
Like many artists, Marjorie has always had a second career. For roughly 50 years, she has worked as a server to augment the couples’ income. Marjorie is presently an active banquet server for the St. Paul Hotel and is an attendant in the executive suites for the MN Wild games.
Mike served in the army during the Cuban Missile Crisis and spent 30 months in Germany as the unit photographer. Once discharged, and after receiving his photography degree, he worked as a self-employed commercial photographer in corporate advertising & architecture. “Feast or famine,’ he said, the story of creative sales. He also augments their income as part of a cottage industry – parking cars for the state far, which he’s done for 30 years. “Locked cars, cars out of gas, flat tires, tipsy customers.” “It’s an education,” he says.
Traveling extensively much of their lives, Marjorie and Mike have visited art museums all over Europe. She takes her water colors where ever they go; Mike looks for street art. They seem to live their art every day. As I was leaving, Marjorie gave me a music-themed pack of her note cards. It was such a generous gesture from an artist whose life has been fashioned from a wellspring of creativity. It reminded me of a quote by Somerset Maugham.
“The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead…that is the perfect work of art.”
—W Somerset Maugham (Waddington in The Painted Veil, 1925)
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