Public Programs
Scrap Performance Group performing "Tide" in the
2008 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival.
Summer Solstice 2010: Once Upon a Tile
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens wants your
performance or artwork to be a part of our third annual Summer Solstice
celebration! Summer Solstice ‘10: Once Upon a Tile takes place on Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 2:00pm – 10:00pm. Our previous Summer Solstice festivals have featured fire dancers, dancers, musical acts, and visual art, all displayed within our unique mosaiced setting. Last year’s Solstice Festival was a huge success, boasting an attendance of over 350 people over the course of the day.
The 2010 Solstice theme centers on storytelling. We are looking for exciting proposals that reflect the idea of narrative in a variety of artistic genres, including musical acts, dance, theater, comedy, short films, and visual arts. Our afternoon audiences usually include families, while the later spectators are primarily adults. Artists are not usually compensated for performances at the Summer Solstice event, but transportation reimbursement can be considered. Many participating artists in the past Solstice festivals have been invited to perform/display in other paid events at PMG and have the opportunity to sell their merchandise at a table throughout the festival day. The Solstice Festival is an opportunity to perform in a one-of-a-kind artistic environment to a diverse audience of families, artists, and young adults.
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is a nonprofit arts center that preserves the artworks of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar and educates the public about mosaic and folk art. The Magic Gardens, his largest artwork, includes a fully tiled indoor space and a massive outdoor labyrinthine mosaic sculpture garden that spans half a city block on Philadelphia’s famous South St. By making art accessible, PMG seeks to foster civic engagement, community beautification and artistic collaboration. PMG is open to the public every day and holds core programs that include Family Jams hands-on activities, the Music & Mosaic Concert Series, educational tours and workshops, and art exhibitions.
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is inviting art and craft vendors to set up booths at Summer Solstice 2010: Once Upon a Tile. We would like vendors to represent a wide variety of media and be able to relate their products to the festival’s storytelling theme.
Please include the following information in your proposal:
1. Your name/ Arts business name
2. Contact information
3. Art/ Craft medium
4. Photos of work or link to website
5. How does your product relate to this festival’s storytelling theme?
6. Do you have any special requirements? What will your display look like?
The deadline for vendor proposals is Friday, May 28. A 10’ x 10’ space will cost $40, or $65 for a space with electrical access; event admission is included in this fee. Submit your proposal by emailing the above information to vendors@phillymagicgardens.org. Any questions should be directed to Lauren Harkins, Assistant Gallery Manager at vendors@phillymagicgardens.org or 215.733.0390.
"Music & Mosaics" Concert Series
Each month in 2010, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens (PMG) is collaborating with other South Street businesses to bring visitors a "Fourth Friday" weekend full of entertainment! The Music & Mosaics Concert Series, provides a venue outside of the status quo for musicians, offering truly unique acoustics and visuals. Concerts cost only a few dollars over our regular admission; PMG Members pay reduced entry for all concerts.
Come early to stroll through the Gardens and stay late to enjoy Music & Mosaics at PMG!
Family Jams
Join us every second Sunday for a variety of mosaic themed, hands-on workshops and kid-friendly tours. Family Jam workshops generally begin at 12:00 pm and end at 4:00 pm. Tours are about an hour and begin at 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm. Past Family Jams have included book arts projects, poetry workshops, and special guest performances.All Family Jam workshops and activities are FREE with admission. Tours are $3 per person plus admission. Family memberships are available for free admission and ongoing discounts. Click Here for more information about our Educational Programs.
July's Family Jam: Whimsical Wheelists!
Sunday July 11, 12:00 - 4:00 pm
If you have experienced Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, then you've seen the hundreds of recycled wheels that are embedded into the labyrinthine walls of PMG. Come join us for July's Family Jam as we make our own Pinwheels and bask in the summer breeze!
Learn more about the work of Isaiah Zagar, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens and South Street history on our kid-friendly tours at 1:00 and 4:00 pm.
Creative Correspondence: Equal Exchange Collaborative Works
April 23 - June 1
Embracing the theme of collaborative work, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens is hosting Creative Correspondence: Equal Exchange Collaborative Works exhibition of the pieces created by students with mental impairment from Philly’s Oasis Art Center and working artists in the local community. Oasis is a studio devoted to the art and life-skills education of adults with mental disabilities.
Creative Correspondence: Equal Exchange Collaborative Works, will open with a public reception on Friday, April 23 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm and be on display through June 1. The purpose of this project is to expose Oasis’ students to a variety of new ideas and imagery and push them to be inspired by each other as well as other working artists, while also providing a social and professional connection to the art community in Philadelphia. The participants have been paired with one another according to related ideas and inspirations.
This show’s pieces are intended to mimic the exquisite corpse technique; in which an artist records part of an image on paper and then passes it along to another artist to continue. The pieces encourage a correspondence between the students and participating artists, creating small dialogues and temporary symbiotic interactions in which each participant can benefit from the skills and creative energy of the other. PMG's founding artist Isaiah Zagar will participate, along with over 20 additional local artists.
Philagrafika Community Partner
"Philagrafika 2010: The Graphic Unconscious is the inaugural presentation of a multi-sited international festival of festival of contemporary art that will occur in Philadelphia every four years. Philagrafika 2010 will focus on artistic practices that engage the visual, intellectual, and creative frontiers in printmaking and how these approaches relate to social and political issues in the public sphere."
PMG will host two major exhibitions during Philagrafika 2010: Fifty Years of Printmaking: Works on Paper by Isaiah Zagar and Tell-Tale Tiles & Fractured Fantasies.
During Philagrafika 2010, PMG will also host two community events in conjunction with the Free Library of Philadelphia's One Book, One Philadelphia program:
What's Your Story?, a family book-making activity, will take place on Sunday, January 21, 2010 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm.
Zine Machine, a zine-making workshop and presentation will take place on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.
Cinco De Mayo at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens!
• Free Admission
• Bilingual Tours
• Live music and local artists
• Traditional Mexican refreshments
• Art activities for the whole family
PMG is proud to partner with Casa Monarca for a celebration that honors this important Mexican battle. On Sunday, May 2 from 12:00 – 5:00 pm, PMG will have hands-on art activities for families, traditional Mexican refreshments and kid-friendly, bilingual tours focusing on the Latin American sculptures embedded in PMG's mosaics. Amidst the glittering walls, view live musical performances and beautiful crafts made by local Mexican artists.
This event is sponsored by Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, PECO, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Casa Monarca.
For more information please call 215-733-0390.
Tell-Tale Tiles & Fractured Fantasies
Ceramics Exhibition
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
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
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. To register for a seat, call PMG at 215.733.0390. Walk-in registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Cost: $7/students and PMG Members, $10/Adults, includes Museum Admission and light refreshments
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 suggested $4 donation
Saturday, April 24-April 25 from 9:00am to 4:00pm: Public Mosaic Mural Workshop with founding artist, Isaiah Zagar
Four of the participating artists were chosen to receive excellence awards: Shanna Fliegel (Best in Show), Ashley Gray (Second Place), Shawn Newton (Third Place), and Edwin Mighell (Tile Heritage Award). In addition, two special prizes, The Spirit of Mercer and The Spirit of Zagar, will be selected during the exhibition by Vance Koehler, Curator of Collections at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, and Isaiah Zagar respectively.
Tell-Tale Tiles & Fractured Fantasies was generously underwritten by "Exhibition Hosting Sponsor" LATICRETE International, Inc. Other important sponsors are NS Ceramic, Inc., The Chicago Mosaic School, AMACO, Ed Pawlack Tile, Solar Antique Tiles, Laguna Clay Company, Paragon Industries, L.P., and the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works.
Download the Tell-Tale Tales & Fractured Fantasies press release [PDF]
"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
Other Media Mentions For TTTFF:
The Phoenix: Philly Weekend Guide
About.com Guide to Philadelphia
Fifty Years of Printmaking: Works on Paper by Isaiah Zagar
January 15, 2010 - March 5, 2010
Though best known for his shimmering mosaic murals on South Street, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens founding artist Isaiah Zagar will reveal another, rarely-seen side of his art in January 2010. Throughout his expansive career, Zagar has also produced hundreds of etchings and woodcuts, and these prints, which are the focal point of the recent award-winning documentary, In a Dream, will be featured at PMG as part of Philagrafika 2010.
Fifty Years of Printmaking: Works on Paper by Isaiah Zagar will feature a varied selection of intricate prints which chronicle Zagar's life from his time as a young artist at New York City's renowned Pratt Institute through his marriage, the development of his children, and birth of his grandchildren. Prints created during his travels to Peru and India will also be included. The exhibition will run from Friday, January 15, 2010 through Friday, March 5, 2010.
South Street Winter Solstice Celebration
We're celebrating the Winter Solstice by forgetting about the cold with a day full of warm climate-themed performances and hands-on art workshops. And don't miss this opportunity to finish up your holiday shopping. Participating businesses and restaurants along South Street will offer discounted shopping and food specials, so you can save money and support your local businesses.
Admission is $7/general admission, $5/PMG Members, $4/children aged 6-12, and FREE/children under 6.
WINTER SOLSTICE FESTIVAL: December 19, 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm- 4:00-5:00 pm - Robert Fournier
Latin classical guitarist - 5:00-6:00 pm - Joe Kille & Emiliano Rodriguez
Acoustic guitar and vocal performances - 6:30-7:00 pm - Kelly Ray and Leslie Mitchell
Tango dance instruction - 7:00-8:00 pm - Latino Dance Fiesta with DJ Ginkgo
Get your salsa dance on!
Flyer back - Participating businesses
Philly Fringe Festival
PMG hosts In(Visible) Keepsakes — New Philadelphia Poets"Come witness the birth of a poem, the burial of another, and the wedding of word, music, and image as the New Philadelphia Poets locate a collective tongue in the city of brotherly love. Featuring poetic fortunes, imbibements, and prizes, In(visible) Keepsakes is an ecstatic celebration of language and community." More information at the Philly Fringe Festival website.
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours
"Drunken Teapot" by Jimmy Clark
- Jack Larimore
- Jimmy & Angela Clark
- Charmaine Caire
- Isaiah Zagar
- Visit POST for more details.
