Pennsylvania is blessed with historic sites and unique attractions celebrating the Keystone State’s past and present. Many are iconic places ingrained in our statewide consciousness. As a collection, they represent the achievements of Pennsylvania’s famous people and its most storied landscapes, from William Penn to Little Round Top.
A Pennsylvania road trip bucket list usually includes these type of subjects. That wish list likely features Gettysburg, the Liberty Bell, Harrisburg’s State Capitol, Lancaster County Amish country, Hershey’s Chocolate or the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Fallingwater home, to name a few.
However, other little-known Pennsylvania places are equally captivating and offer the potential for fascinating discoveries. These less-explored locales are often hidden in plain sight. In this new series, we’ll explore a selection of unique Pennsylvania treasures.
Within Philadelphia’s vibrant center city, a single artist conceived and created a distinctive attraction. That man was Isaiah Zagar, and his masterpiece, later named as the Magic Gardens, resulted from decades of impassioned labor and unlimited imagination.
Zagar was born in 1939 and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Pratt Institute in New York. After college, he and his wife Julia joined the Peace Corps and went to Peru. While in South America, Isaiah fell in love with Peruvian folk art. After a three-year volunteer stint there, Zagar and Julia moved to Philadelphia in 1968. They settled on South Street, an edgy neighborhood they eventually helped revitalize.
In retrospect, Zagar explained the development of his artistic style. “When I was 19 years old, I was introduced to the folk art environment of Clarence Schmidt, My Mirrored Hope. Soon after, in 1961, there was a groundbreaking exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.”
That exhibit, called the Art of Assemblage, included works of well-known art masters Pablo Picasso and Antoni Gaudi but also featured that lesser-known bricoleur Schmidt. That event ultimately inspired Zagar to create his own outdoor mosaic environment in Philadelphia, using found, created and recycled materials that showcased his unique skills and experiences.
Mosaic art creates images or patterns from smaller pieces skillfully placed with colored glass or stone. Zagar perfected his artistic style by expanding that vision, utilizing even more creative ingredients. He went to work, opening the “Eyes Gallery” on South Street. Partially as self-therapy, Zagar spread his incredible energy by creating mosaics in the South Philly area. At last count, over 200 of his glittering works decorate the facades of public and private buildings.
However, Zagar reserved special artistic attention for a vacant lot beside his South Street studio. He cleared the land in 1991 and started a large-scale mosaic installation, using mirrored pieces, bicycle wheels, international folk art, glass bottles and handmade tiles to create a unique immersive environment. That work would later become a journal of Zagar’s life, including images of friends and family, and unique words and phrases reflecting his significant influences.
Over the years, Zagar’s various installations faced multiple challenges. During the 1970s, his inner-city neighborhood was threatened with demolition to make room for a new highway. Zagar and neighborhood activists fought that development and ultimately saved the area. Their victory, and the subsequent artistic urban renewal it inspired, was deemed the “South Street Renaissance.”
Later, in 2004, as Zagar’s work on the vacant lot became well-known, the property owner wanted to sell that parcel and called for the dismantling of the mosaic artwork. Local advocates came to Zagar’s rescue and started a non-profit organization to buy and preserve the lot. They named the enterprise Philadelphia Magic Gardens, and it opened for tours in 2008.
Today, this attraction is one of Philadelphia’s cultural gems. The indoor space hosts two galleries that exhibit revolving artists’ shows that mimic Zagar’s work, with a backdrop of the original creator’s mosaics decorating the walls and ceilings.
However, the most fascinating aspect of Magic Garden is found outdoors in a bi-level sculpture garden that was once the vacant lot. Within this otherworldly space, Zagar designed a quirky, imaginative and truly magical realm that transports viewers into the artist’s one-of-a-kind mindset.
At first glance, it’s difficult to decide where to look as this environment contains tens of thousands of individual pieces and hundreds of themes. Curving paths lead through archways and into hidden nooks, each with a distinctive artistic flair. Walls shimmer with sparkling glass, each embedded with surprising three-dimensional artwork.
A mesmerizing stroll presents many choices for a wandering eye. But it’s best to concentrate on the work one square foot at a time to escape being visually overwhelmed. Sunlight and shadow add ever-changing hues to this colorful garden as chirping birds flutter and disappear into crevices.
The wonder and quirkiness of Magic Garden makes the viewer feel childlike by reveling in discoveries of fantastic shapes and unexpected themes reminiscent of a fairy tale. Fellow guests walking these passageways betray the same pure emotions with their wide eyes and tilted heads as they scan the whimsical walls.
Zagar’s installation honors many artists who inspired this creation, like Eddie Owens Martin, a Georgia folk artist who created a sculpture garden he named Pasaquan. Walking Magic Garden’s grounds, too many unique scenes exist to slice even a slender pie-wedge, but recurring themes appear throughout the work.
Zagar utilized over 6,000 bottles inside the garden, and green was the winning color preference. The open spokes of bicycle wheels provide see-through portals between walls, leading the curious eye into new worlds. Tiny sculptures of people and animals are plugged into the rugged walls like fanciful pieces in a massive jigsaw puzzle. Zagar dares his guests to keep a straight face while roaming his domain, knowing it’s impossible.
Another benefit of Magic Gardens is sharing it with others, even total strangers. As people gawk at the artwork and find sections that speak especially to them, it’s easy to chat and capture mutual portraits with cell phones. This place is first-class picture-worthy. A photographer could return to this fantasy courtyard a hundred times, during sun and rain, winter or summer, and in different phases of artistic wisdom, and never fully record every delight found on these walls.
Isaiah Zagar, now in his mid-80s, still lives with his wife Julia on South Street, only a few blocks from his famous invention. After creating art for over five decades, he is retired, and a non-profit group manages Magic Gardens (phillymagicgardens.org). But Zagar is considered a local folk hero and founding father of this enthralling destination. His lifelong motto, seen on Magic Garden’s walls and stenciled on his Philadelphia home’s front door, sums up Zagar’s philosophy: “Art is the center of the real world.”
