Philadelphia-based mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar, known for creating mirrored dreamscapes on buildings across the city, has died, according to a nonprofit art center he created.
Zagar died Thursday at home of complications from heart failure and Parkinson’s disease, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens announced in a statement. He was 86.
Born in Philadelphia, Zagar returned to the city with his wife, Julia, in 1968 after a Peace Corps stint in Peru. Over the years, he created hundreds of public mosaics, many of them along the city’s funky South Street corridor, where they lived.
“He loved South Street, the city of Philadelphia, and the community fostered here with all of his heart,” Emily Smith, executive director of the nonprofit, said in a statement.
Zagar used broken glass, tile, mirrors and other found objects in his work, which adorned buildings, walls and alleyways to create what the foundation called “an everlasting mark on our city.” His immersive Magic Gardens on South Street draws thousands of visitors each year.
Development threatened some of his art, including a huge mosaic on an Old City neighborhood building that was home to The Painted Bride Art Center, which he worked on throughout the 1990s. After a long legal fight, demolition on the building began in December, but some of Zagar’s work is being salvaged.
“While Isaiah lived with ups and downs of mental health struggles, and later with Parkinson’s Disease, he endlessly turned to his art-making to not only express himself, but as a tool to survive,” Smith said.
He is survived by his wife, whom he called his muse and artistic partner, and two sons, including Jeremiah Zagar, a filmmaker who directed a 2008 documentary about his father, “In A Dream.”
