Art and Pause in the Time of Covid: A Talk with Laurel True and Isaiah Zagar

What does it feel like to be in this moment?
How is this pause influencing the creative process?
How does creative expression help us navigate sheltering at home?
Join artists Isaiah Zagar and Laurel True as they discuss these questions and more…

Isaiah and Laurel have had a mutually inspiring mentor/mentee relationship for over three decades.

A chance encounter with the work of the renowned mosaic mural artist in Philadelphia led to an apprenticeship that changed the trajectory of Laurel's life. 

Isaiah's lifelong work of creating public art — most notably, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens -- has inspired millions. Laurel went on to establish her own professional practice and studio and has fostered creativity around the world. Over the years, Isaiah and Laurel have worked on countless projects, co-taught workshops in far-away places and trained thousands of people in co-creative mosaic processes.

Together again, Isaiah and Laurel talk about their long-time creative relationship and how their individual work has influenced and inspired the other. With wisdom, humor and affection, they’ll share what they’re up to now…what it feels like to be artists in this moment in time, and how their creative practices have shifted during the pause.

Wednesday, May 13
1 – 2 pm PDT

45-minute talk
15-minute Q & A

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Proceeds benefit Global Mosaic Project and Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.

Isaiah Zagar 
Isaiah Zagar is an award-winning mosaic mural artist whose work can be found on more than 200 public walls throughout the city of Philadelphia and around the world. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn, Zagar received his B.F.A. in Painting & Graphics at the Pratt Institute of Art in New York City. When he was 19 years old, Zagar discovered the art environment of Clarence Schmidt in Woodstock, New York. This shaped his ideas of what art could be and started a lifelong interest in art environments and their creators. He is the creator of world-famous Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens.

Zagar’s artwork is heavily influenced by his travels and the personal connections he has made with international folk and visionary artists. Isaiah and his wife Julia, completed three years of Peace Corps service in Peru in the mid-1960s, working with folk artists in the Puno region near Lake Titicaca. Soon after, they settled in Philadelphia and began their life’s work of creating public art and fostering creativity in all its varied forms.  https://www.phillymagicgardens.org/about-us/about-isaiah-zagar/
 
Laurel True
Over the past 30 years, artist and educator Laurel True has designed, created and facilitated hundreds of projects for communities, public spaces, hospitals, parks, commercial, and residential spaces around the world. Her work combines glass, ceramic, mirror and salvaged materials from the urban landscape to create site-specific installations, murals and sculptural forms.
 
In addition to apprenticing with Zagar in 1991, True received a degree in African Studies from University of Wisconsin and has studied at Studio Arte del Mosaico in Ravenna, Italy, Universite Chiek Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal, Parsons School of Design and the Art Institute of Chicago. 
 
True is founding director of The Global Mosaic Project, which provides art education and entrepreneurial training to underserved communities in urban and developing areas throughout the world. She co-founded the Institute of Mosaic Art (IMA) in Oakland, California. She has partnered extensively with public health organization, Partners in Health, working with communities to create artwork for hospitals and clinics in Central Haiti. https://www.truemosaics.com/