Mark Llobrera

Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens

Our friend Stef had told us about this place, tucked away on South Street. We went a week ago, celebrating Jordan’s birthday by spending the day in the city. It was cold, but that might have helped discourage crowds—we had a lot of fun just wending our way through the various tunnels and stairways.

Two painted fish embedded in tile.
Fish porthole
Girl in a cat hat and puffer jacket stands next to a sign made out of tile.
Stained glass
Stained glass
Drawing of a man set in 6 blue tiles stacked atop each other in a wall
Blue plate

There were two small, indoor galleries with some sculpture installations.

We went through one more time before we had to go.

Translucent sculpture of a human figure lit up from behind by the sun.
Lit up
Girl in a knit hat peers through the viewfinder of an instant camera.
Instax documentarian
Rainbow reflection cast on a wall.
Reflected rainbow
Tile with "best tile" written in script.
I found the one!
Woman and two girls stand on a stairway, framed by sculpture.
Stairway portrait

See the full set on Flickr.