News/Upcoming Events
- Spring hours begin in April!
The first of April will usher in PMG's springtime hours! Take a little longer to enjoy the sun's rays reflecting off of our glittering tiles; PMG will be open Sunday through Thursday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. Friday and Saturday, join us between the hours of 11:00 am and 8:00 pm. We look forward to seeing you!
- Family Jams: Pin Party
March 14, 2010
12:00pmTake away your very own piece of Philadelphia's Magic Gardens and construct a fashionable memory at this month's Family Jam, Pin Party. Both PMG and founding artist Isaiah Zagar embrace the Japanese aesthetic wabi- sabi, finding beauty in imperfection and impermanence. We've collected the pieces of tile that have fallen from the murals during the harsh winter weather and want to share these fallen treasures with you and your loved ones.
Trained PMG interpreters will be leading kid-friendly tours at 1:00 and 4:00 pm. Workshop activity is FREE with admission and will take place from 12:00 - 4:00 pm.
PMG Admission: Adults/ $4, Kids 6 - 12/ $2, Kids under 6/ FREE, Tours are $3 with admission.
- Tell-Tale Tiles & Fractured Fantasies Ceramic Exhibition
March 19, 2010 - April 19, 2010
6:00pm
In partnership with the Tile Heritage Foundation, PMG will host a juried art exhibition of tile and mosaic artworks called Tell-Tale Tiles & Fractured Fantasies (TTTFF). The exhibition is inspired by the rich history of tile and mosaic art in the Philadelphia area over the past 100 years.
Tell-Tale Tiles & Fractured Fantasies explores contemporary tile making and ceramic mosaic as a story-telling medium in the spirit of artists Henry Chapman Mercer and Isaiah Zagar. The call for entry requested narrative tiles that could include social, political, personal, and family stories. Renowned ceramicist and art historian Susan Tunick selected the works for the exhibition.
Held in the gallery of Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, this month-long exhibition will provide an appropriate venue for tile and mosaic artists from around the country to make powerful and socially meaningful statements.
Calendar of events during Tell-Tale Tiles & Fractured Fantasies:
Friday, March 19-Monday, April 19: Tell-Tale Tiles and Fractured Fantasies Exhibition
Daily Museum Admission: Adults $4, Kids 6-12 $2, Kids 5 and under FREE
Friday, March 19 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm: Opening reception for TTTFF
Cost: Adults $4 (Suggested Museum Admission Fee), PMG Members FREE -- No registration required
Monday-Tuesday, March 29-30 from 9:00am to 4:00pm: Pre-NCECA Public Mosaic Mural Workshop with founding artist, Isaiah Zagar
Cost: Early Registration: $200 plus $20 materials fee; After March 12, 2010, $250 plus $20 materials fee
To register for the NCECA workshop, call PMG at 215.733.0390 or sign up online at www.phillymagicgardens.org/pages.php?ContentID=6&SubContentID=40&page=NCECAworkshop
Tuesday, March 30 at 6:30pm: Lecture: "Henry Chapman Mercer and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works" by Vance Koehler, Curator of Collections at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works
Cost: $7/students and PMG Members, $10/Adults, includes Museum Admission and light refreshments
To register for a seat, call PMG at 215.733.0390 or sign up online at www.phillymagicgardens.org/news/programs. Walk-in registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Wednesday-Saturday, March 31-April 5: NCECA conference, PA Convention Center
Thursday, April 1 at 8:00am: Isaiah Zagar lecture at NCECA conference
Thursday, April 1 from 5:00pm- 8:00pm: NCECA reception
Cost: NCECA participants FREE ($2 suggested donation), Adults $4 (Museum Admission Fee), PMG Members FREE
Saturday, April 24-April 25 from 9:00am to 4:00pm: Public Mosaic Mural Workshop with founding artist, Isaiah Zagar
"This so-called 'literary' side of the craft, this storytelling... has been my primary impulse or inspiration... But if tiles could tell no story, inspire or teach nobody, and only serve to produce aesthetic thrills, I would have stopped making them long ago."
-Henry Chapman Mercer
- Vance Koehler lecture at PMG
March 30, 2010
6:30pmIn celebration of the Tell-Tale Tiles and Fractured Fantasies ceramic exhibition, Vance Koehler will deliver a lecture at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. Author and Curator of Collections at Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Koehler's lecture is entitled "Henry Chapman Mercer and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works."
Cost: $7/students and PMG Members, $10/Adults, includes Museum Admission and light refreshments
To register for a seat, call PMG at 215.733.0390 or sign up online at www.phillymagicgardens.org/news/programs. Walk-in registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
- Planning a wedding or just want to throw a great party?
The Magic Garden is available to reserve for special events! Please visit our private events page for more information, e-mail us at info@phillymagicgardens.org, or call 215-733-0390.
- Weekend Site Tours of Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
Each weekend, visitors can get an insider's view of the Magic Gardens. Enjoy a guided interpretive tour through the Magic Gardens main site and nearby mosaiced properties. Topics include Zagar's mosaic techniques and influences, the material used in the mosaics (with a particular focus on tiles and global folk art), the narratives behind his iconography and images, and the history of South Street and Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.
Tours take place Saturdays at 12 noon and 4 pm, and Sundays at 4 pm.
Site Tour Fees are: Adults $7, children ages 6-12 $5 and children 5 years and under are free.
Neighborhood walking tours are available durring winter months upon request for private groups. Please book at least one week in advance by calling 215.733.0390.
- Mosaic Mural Walking Tours return in April
