Isaiah Zagar, was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Brooklyn and studied at the Pratt Institute in New York. After traveling the world and creating murals wherever he went, after a 3 year Peace Corps Service in Peru, Isaiah and his wife Julie settled back in Phi
ladelphia in the 1960’s. During that time he was already trying to revive and beautify South Street, this was done along with other artists, and it became known as the “South Street Renaissance.” After the street was saved, he created hundreds of public artworks over two decades through out the city.
In 1994, Zagar started working on the vacant lots located near his studio at 1020 South Street. He first constructed a massive fence to protect the area then spent years sculpting multi-layer walls out of found objects.
This wonderful art installation of Zagar’s personal nature was threatened when the c
ompany that owned the property decided to sell the land which would force the artwork to be dismantled. Here the community rushed in to help support the artist. After 2 years of legal battle the outcome was the formation of the non-profit named after his work, Philadelphia Magic Garden.
Join us on Wednesday, June 6th at the Lansdale Public Library to learn more about this artistic gem when we will have a representative from the Philadelphia Magic Garden provide us with more information about Izaiah Zagar and his fabulous mosaic creations.
Meeting gets underway at 7:00 p.m.
North Penn Arts Alliance 