Isaiah Zagar’s mosaic garden

Last night D and I watched “In a Dream” the documentary of Isaiah Zagar, his life and work as a mosaic artist and his relationship with his wife Julia. It was a beautifully filmed documentary by their son Jeremiah Zagar, which portrayed the forty-year love story of his parents, as well as his father’s obsession with mosaic art.

I loved the documentary and so when we went into Philly today to visit D’s friend R, we decided to go to the mosaic garden, just to get an in-person look at Zagar’s work. Before heading over there though, we had lunch first at Beau Monde, one of my favorite places to eat in South Philly. As we’re finishing up, the hostess seats two people by the window and as usual, I’m staring. The longer I stare, the more it becomes clear to me that it’s Jeremiah Zagar and his mother Julia. We were pretty shocked at the coincidence.

Normally I don’t do this, but I went over to their table and mentioned that we had just seen their documentary last night and that it was brilliant. I wasn’t sure how they’d react, but they were both very gracious and even made a bit of small talk. How nice. And right as I was about to leave, the son says to me, “and here’s the star now,” or something to that effect. I turned around and in walked his father,  looking somewhat out of it, but nonetheless pleasant. At any rate, it was hugely exciting to have see this documentary, then the actual work and mosaics on the wall, and finally the whole family. The art, the film and the family all came together very serendipitously, and what’s best was that D was there to experience it all with me.

Here are some of our photos from today. And I strongly recommend seeing the film (now on HBO).