Philadelphia Magic Gardens

Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.

-- Bertolt Brecht

For Isaiah Zagar, art not only shapes, but anchors, the world. For more than 40 years, the mosaic artist has expressed his belief that “art is the center of the real world,” with mirrors, hammers, and a restless vision that has transformed a piece of South Philadelphia into his palette.

A multifaceted vision

The center of Zagar’s sparkling galaxy is Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, 1020 South Street. In 1994, after covering every surface in his studio and living space with tile, folk art, and found objects, all set in a rainbow of velvety mortar, Zagar turned his creativity on the vacant double lot next door. Over the years, he has constructed a wonderland of labyrinthine tunnels and lanes, stairways and outdoor rooms. The 3,000-square-foot site is the largest manifestation of Zagar’s vision.

His work requires time to explore. Philadelphia Magic Gardens and Zagar’s public murals are layered with detail. Up close, there are pottery pieces, spoked bicycle wheels, and hand-shaped tiles imprinted with lace doilies. Step back, and faces, birds, top-hatted men, mermaids, and encrypted messages appear. Retreat farther: As details soften and the fractured images of Zagar’s trademark mirrors fuse, the perspective from the mural is revealed. The art reflects the world back to the viewer.

Saving the Gardens

In 2002, the South Street site was jeopardized when the lot owner decided to sell the property. By that time, Zagar and his wife Julia had lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and had cemented relationships through their participation in South Street’s countercultural renaissance and successful campaign against a cross-town expressway. With enthusiastic community support, Zagar purchased 1024-1026 South Street and in 2004 established Philadelphia Magic Gardens as a nonprofit entity to preserve and provide access to his art, inspire creativity and community engagement, and inform the public on mosaic, folk, and visionary art.

Born in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn, Zagar, 75, attended Pratt Institute, earning a bachelor of fine art in painting and drawing. He is self-taught in mosaics, influenced by mainstream and outsider artists across several cultures. In the mid-1960s, he and Julia served as artists in Peru with the Peace Corps. The couple settled in Philadelphia in 1968, opened a folk art shop, the Eye’s Gallery, and raised sons Jeremiah and Ezekiel. (Jeremiah’s 2008 documentary, In A Dream, explored his parents’ art and relationship.)

Filling all available space

Working every day, Zagar is constantly running out of walls, which is how his murals escaped the studio, burrowed next door, and percolated through the neighborhood, spiraling down alleys, scaling garden walls, hurdling doorways, and encircling windows. In addition to new work, the artist revises existing murals if an improvement occurs to him, and neighbors who have a Zagar mural know that just because their mosaic is finished, it isn’t necessarily done.

His works appear on more than 120 walls in Philadelphia, many of them near Philadelphia Magic Gardens, in an area bounded by Lombard on the north, Fitzwater on the south, and 4th to 11th streets. Tours with guides are offered on weekends or can be taken independently with an available brochure. Philadelphia Magic Gardens is open every day.

Zagar mosaics are found as far away as India and Mexico, and in museum collections that include the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. Zagar has completed artist residencies in China and India, in addition to teaching and conducting mosaic workshops. He is a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Philadelphia Magic Gardens, 1020 South Street, Philadelphia. Spring/Summer Hours (April-October): Sunday – Thursday, 11am to 6pm, Friday and Saturday, 11am to 8pm; $7 for adults, $5 for Students & Seniors, $3 for ages 6-12, FREE for children 5 and under. 215-733-0390 or www.phillymagicgardens.org.

(Photos by Pamela J. Forsythe)