Art and Community

My parents recently moved to the outskirts of Philadelphia. With this, came a new city to explore when in town for family visits! Philadelphia's Magic Gardens are more than just a mosaic. It is the vision of Isaiah Zagar who purchased property on South Street and began the 14 year project of transforming a storefront and empty lot space next door to a whimsical playground. As I walked through this maze of color, texture and pattern, the true scale of a project like this was the most breathtaking. In the late 1960's, when Zagar and his wife moved to South Street, it was an area of brokenness and neglect, home to some of America's urban poor stuck in a cycle of poverty that doesn't leave much opportunity for escape. Seeing this, Zagar chose this particular location in order to draw public attention to the neighborhood and draw the community together. When walking through, down and around this fairyland, it is difficult to not feel a personal connection with the work. This garden as well as Zagar's many murals around the city stress the importance of the imagination. His view on art and emphasis on community building were pivital in transforming the community of South Philly.



------- mural reads: "Art is the center of the real world."--------



"Art should not be segregated in museums;
it needs to live free among us." -Isaiah Zagar