“During the latter part of the 20th and early part of

 the 21st century, Philadelphia had an efflorescence of art

 and culture unsurpassed in any other time in human history.

 And since my name is derived from a prophet, I had the

 courage to follow my bliss”- Isaiah Zagar

   That was his calling…

   Although his name may not be familiar, his work is

 unforgettable. It’s next to impossible to describe the

 Magic Garden on 1022 South to a tourist. What is it?

 Well…, it was a parking lot that was transformed into a

 mosaic garden filled with bicycle wheels, empty beer

 bottles, and broken glass all trying to tell a story about

 one’s artists life and his work. Uh Huh.

You have to see it to believe it but don’t forget to bring the camera. As

 many times I can recall riding or walking by, I never once

 considered going inside. It never occurred to me that it

 would be open to the public and instead always gazed through

 the gate wondering what my eyes have not yet seen.

    To say that the magic  garden is filled with mosaics is not to be taken lightly.

Even the washrooms are representation of his work.

    Since 1994, Isaiah has spent many a day and night

 creating, transforming and then displaying the work that

 gives him both inspiration and peace. It is his way of

 “nesting” for he has a family with wife Julia and sons

 Ezekiel and Jeremiah.

   No art is ever easy to create and having spent the

 afternoon with Isaiah, I can attest to that. After creating

 a variety of tiles using doilies, he cleans them,

 administers a glaze, liquid glass, and then fuses the tiles

 with ceramics, which have been removed from a temperature as

 high as 2,000 degrees from a kilm oven.

His wife Julia has

 to say no from having him put his mosaics on every untouched

 space one can see with the naked eye.

   Just head to the Eye’s Gallery( Julia’s art gallery)

 on 402 South Street and look at their ceiling, He couldn’t

 possibly put anymore pieces on that wall. And one could make

 the same argument about the Magic Garden but only Isaiah

 knows when his work will be finished. But to us, it is

 “complete and perfect.” So if you’ve never seen his

 work or like me, had only seen the outside of his garden,

 take your imagination and multiply that by a million!

   Philadelphia Magic Garden

   1022 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19147

   www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org

   11-5pm (winter hours) $3 dollar suggested donation

Here is tour of everything from Green Tea to  Hello Kitty right here in Chinatown.

Shopping in Chinatown

Here are a series of videos I hosted for soundaboutphilly.com/uwishunu.com  Chinatown has forever been my home and I proud to show you its food, culture and people. Enjoy!!

Chinatown the Neighborhood