January 1, 2006: Headlines: COS - Peru: Art: Murals: Painting: Urban Renewal: Centre Daily Times: South Street's Magic Garden, the soaring, shimmering, ever-morphing artscape that springs from Isaiah Zagar's imagination, made a rare opening to the public
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January 1, 2006: Headlines: COS - Peru: Art: Murals: Painting: Urban Renewal: Centre Daily Times: South Street's Magic Garden, the soaring, shimmering, ever-morphing artscape that springs from Isaiah Zagar's imagination, made a rare opening to the public
South Street's Magic Garden, the soaring, shimmering, ever-morphing artscape that springs from Isaiah Zagar's imagination, made a rare opening to the public
The Magic Garden dates to 1994, when the long-haired, bushy-bearded artist bought a building at 1020-22 South St. that backed up to his Kater Street studio. Next door to the new acquisition was a derelict double lot, which he did not own. Artist Isaiah Zagar served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru in the 1960's.
South Street's Magic Garden, the soaring, shimmering, ever-morphing artscape that springs from Isaiah Zagar's imagination, made a rare opening to the public
Artist's garden no longer a secret
JULIE STOIBER
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA - South Street's Magic Garden, the soaring, shimmering, ever-morphing artscape that springs from Isaiah Zagar's imagination, made a rare opening to the public last month in hopes to pay off the debts the artist incurred to preserve his work.
Rarely does Zagar let people wander among the bike wheels, beer bottles, broken statues, and other strange stuff he has mortared together to form the garden's passageways, near 10th and South.
But the mystically artistic Zagar, known for tile-and-mirror mosaics that embellish many buildings near where he works and lives, is practical. The garden's curious corridors lead to his studio and gallery, where one-of-a-kind Zagar shirts go for $135, bowls for $350, and straw paintings for up to $700.
Proceeds from sales there will help pay the debt he incurred last year when the foundation he formed bought the garden lot for $300,000 after the owner put it up for sale and threatened to demolish a decade's worth of work.
"Why it's so important for me to save the garden is that it's not finished," said Zagar, 66. "The too-muchness of it is the artist's life."
The Magic Garden dates to 1994, when the long-haired, bushy-bearded artist bought a building at 1020-22 South St. that backed up to his Kater Street studio. Next door to the new acquisition was a derelict double lot, which he did not own.
Nonetheless, he cleaned it up and went to work. Art grew.
"I make art voluminously," he said.
Busloads of tourists were soon ogling it, passersby posing in front of it.
"The common man is clear about it: This is art," Zagar said.
From time to time, he considered buying the lot, but when its Boston-based owner last year ordered him to clear the garden in preparation for a sale, he got serious.
He and his wife, Julia, cashed in an IRA and took out a home-equity loan on their residence farther down South Street. An anonymous patron offered to make the monthly payments for two years. If Zagar can raise $200,000 by this time next year, the donor will throw in $100,000, and the foundation, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, will own the property free and clear.
To that end, Zagar opened the garden and gallery for a few weekends in November and again in December.
"One of the things people said is, 'I've wanted to come in for so long,' " Zagar said. "The other thing they ask is, 'How's it doing?' like the garden is a relative who's in trouble."
He has also opened his studio complex - a glittering maze of walls, floors, ceilings and stairwells adorned with his trademark shard art - for fund-raising events hosted by supporters.
Sandy Cadwalader of Center City had her birthday party there this summer. She requested donations to the garden instead of gifts, and raised close to $8,000.
"I had lots of friends who came in from the suburbs," she said. "They were wild about it."
Tracy Levesque, a Web designer, is hosting a 40th birthday party there tonight. Guests are asked to give $40 to help preserve what Levesque calls "a Philly landmark."
"Isaiah won't be around forever," she said. "We have to ensure that his art will be memorialized."
Donations to the cause come in through the front fence, too. Just inside it sits a white, swing-top trash can. People reach through and drop in coins and dollars - about $100 a month.
"People tell me they put in money every time they pass," Zagar said. (One man used a coat hanger and glue trap to raid the can until police stopped him.)
The campaign has raised $51,000 so far.
Depending on the weather, this may be the last weekend Zagar opens the garden and gallery until spring, when his final sprint to the fund-raising deadline will ensue.
"I'm very optimistic about the..."
He pauses.
"What am I optimistic about?"
He kneads his forehead.
"Yes. Yes. I think we will."
Make the goal, that is.
Recently, Zagar excavated a four-foot-deep hole in the garden. He plans to turn it into an observation pit, where people can sit back and study the wondrous tangle he has created.
"You'll be able to go down there, look up, maybe have tea," he said. "Who knows?"
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Story Source: Centre Daily Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Peru; Art; Murals; Painting; Urban Renewal
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