"You think a change, you work a change, but there must be a change in yourself." This is a quote from Isaiah Zagar who spoke to our class today at the Magic Gardens in South Philadelphia.
Isaiah Zagar is a 74 year old man who has been an artist practically his whole life. He has dedicated his life to art and is formally trained in painting. When he was a young man, he and his wife joined the Peace Corps and traveled to Peru. After living there for three years, he moved to Philadelphia where he experienced extreme reverse culture shock. This was due to the violence and horrific events occurring at the time, such as the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. Due to the reverse culture shock, Isaiah had a breakdown and was hospitalized at a mental hospital for 15 days. Art had always taken care of Isaiah, so before he left the hospital, his therapist told him to work on his art every day as a way of maintaining mental stability.
Isaiah began to paint again, but it did not help. Soon he became interested in mosaics and taught himself how to create them. He bought property and used neighboring properties to create his mosaics. He still works at his art every day till this day, and his old property is now open for public viewing. I loved the art, and was awed at its beauty and lack of perfection.
Isaiah was able to speak to our group for an hour or so, and he was delightful to listen to and speak with. He answered all questions honestly, and had conversations with us all about current events happening around the world. He was very interesting and I wish that I could have spoken to him more. Here is a link if you would like to know more about Isaiah Zagar: http://inadreammovie.com/ .
No comments:
Post a Comment