Vincent Van Gogh once famously said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” The story of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens reflects this in many ways. In 2001, Philadelphia artist Isaiah Zagar visited Chandigarh with his family, where they saw Nek Chand’s extraordinary work, the Rock Garden. The visit to the 40-acre mosaic landscape, crafted from broken crockery, bangles, pipes, and discarded materials, led to a moment of deep artistic kinship.
Years later, Zagar invited Nek Chand to Philadelphia to see his own mosaic masterpiece. Chand named it ‘Sheesh Mahal’, or the Palace of Mirrors. Today, his name is immortalised in tiles on the walls of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, a shimmering sanctuary where mirror fragments catch sunlight and tell stories.
Located on Philadelphia’s South Street, the Magic Gardens seem subtle as you walk in. A glint of mirror catches the sunlight. Then another appears. And another. Before long, you see that every surface—walls, sidewalks, alleyways, even trash cans is adorned with intricate mosaics that shimmer in the light. Embedded in the surfaces are bicycle wheels, broken china, pottery fragments, and painted figures, all woven together into a kaleidoscopic chronicle of Isaiah Zagar life, memories, and imagination.
For over five decades, Zagar has transformed parts of Philadelphia into a sprawling, living artwork. He has created more than 200 murals, many in or around the South Street neighbourhood. But nowhere does his vision come to life more vividly than at Magic Gardens, a sprawling, part-indoor, part-outdoor wonderland built almost entirely from fragments: mirror shards, handmade tiles, bottles, bicycle wheels, and bits of folk art gathered from around the world.
Zagar’s art is tactile and personal, with every surface packed with ceramic tiles, words, found objects, and bursts of colour. The hand-scrawled inscriptions seem to be his thoughts on display. “The complexity of existence continues,” reads one wall. “Art is the centre of the real world,” says another.
And it’s not just the material and mosaic art that connects the two, but the uncanny similar stories of how these two were built, the uncertainties around its legalities and the fear of demolition.
A Peace Corps posting to Peru in the 1960s exposed the Zagar to Andean folk art. When Zagar returned to Philadelphia, he and his wife Julia opened the Eyes Gallery on South Street. “It showcased Latin-American crafts and helped revive the neighbourhood, then threatened by a planned expressway. The Zagars, along with local activists, fought to save the area and literally embedded themselves into its fabric,” says the woman staffing the visitor centre.
In 1986 and 1995, the couple bought two derelict buildings and a vacant lot, soon to become Isaiah’s canvas and studio. Zagar, at 58, began working on the adjacent lots, slowly building what would become the Magic Gardens. Though he didn’t initially own the land, he adorned it anyway, constructing mosaic-covered walls, grottos, and sculptural towers from found materials.
But in 2004, the Boston-based owner of the lot decided to sell and demanded that the artwork be destroyed. The city responded with outrage; neighbours, artists, and lawyers joined hands to save the mosaic wonderland. Their efforts gave rise to Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens—a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Zagar’s vision.
By 2008, the gardens included indoor galleries, a two-level outdoor sculpture maze, and a visitor centre. The place became more than an art installation; it became a community hub, a teaching space, and a living monument to creativity.
Today, visiting Magic Gardens seems like stepping into an artistic wonderland. Winding mosaic paths guide you to hidden alcoves glimmering with glass and alive with sculpted shapes. Ceramic tiles bear the names of Zagar’s family, his mentors and heroes. And yes, Nek Chand's name appears more than once, a nod to their shared language of reclaimed beauty. Like Chand’s Rock Garden in Chandigarh, Zagar’s Magic Gardens elevates the discarded into the divine.
Today, the garden may shimmer and sparkle on the surface, but this magical world was born from pain as much as inspiration. Zagar, now in his 80s, continues to create his magic. “Younger generations, who discover him through Instagram, realise what locals have known for years: “Isaiah Zagar didn’t just decorate Philadelphia—he reimagined it.”