PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia-based mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar, known for creating mirrored dreamscapes on buildings across the city, has died, according to a nonprofit art center he created.
Zagar died Thursday at home of complications from heart failure and Parkinson’s disease, Philadelphia's Magic Gardens announced in a statement. He was 86.
Born in Philadelphia, Zagar returned to the city with his wife, Julia, in 1968 after a Peace Corps stint in Peru. Over the years, he created hundreds of public mosaics, many of them along the city’s funky South Street corridor, where they lived.
“He loved South Street, the city of Philadelphia, and the community fostered here with all of his heart," Emily Smith, executive director of the nonprofit, said in a statement.
Zagar used broken glass, tile, mirrors and other found objects in his work, which adorned buildings, walls and alleyways to create what the foundation called “an everlasting mark on our city.” His immersive Magic Gardens on South Street draws thousands of visitors each year.
Development threatened some of his art, including a huge mosaic on an Old City neighborhood building that was home to The Painted Bride Art Center, which he worked on throughout the 1990s. After a long legal fight, demolition on the building began in December, but some of Zagar’s work is being salvaged.
"While Isaiah lived with ups and downs of mental health struggles, and later with Parkinson’s Disease, he endlessly turned to his art-making to not only express himself, but as a tool to survive,” Smith said.
He is survived by his wife, whom he called his muse and artistic partner, and two sons, including Jeremiah Zagar, a filmmaker who directed a 2008 documentary about his father, "In A Dream.”
FILE - Isaiah Zagar sits with his dog Blue at the "Dear Julia" exhibit during an interview at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE - Julia Zagar, left, and her husband Isaiah Zagar pose for a photo with their dog Blue at the "Dear Julia" exhibit at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens May 26, 2016, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's Péter Magyar took his oath of office on Saturday to become the country's new prime minister, ending Viktor Orbán's 16 years of autocratic rule.
Magyar’s center-right Tisza party defeated Orbán’s nationalist-populist Fidesz in a stunning blow last month, gaining more votes and seats in Parliament than any other party in Hungary’s post-Communist history.
The win, which gave Tisza a two-thirds parliamentary majority, will allow it to roll back many of the policies that gave Orbán a reputation among his critics as a far-right authoritarian.
In a speech to lawmakers in Hungary's Parliament after being sworn in, Magyar said he would not use his office to “rule” Hungary, “but to serve my homeland.”
“I’m not standing here because I’m different from anyone else in the country,” Magyar said. “I stand here because millions of Hungarians decided that they want change. And this trust that we have received is both a weight of honor and a moral obligation, but also a wonderful feeling.”
Magyar has vowed to restore democratic institutions and governmental checks and balances that were heavily eroded during Orbán's rule, and to clamp down on alleged corruption.
His government is expected to transform political dynamics within the European Union, where the former prime minister had upended the bloc by frequently vetoing key decisions, most recently concerning support for neighboring Ukraine.
On Saturday, Magyar, a 45-year-old lawyer who founded Tisza in 2024 after years as an insider in Orbán’s party, entered the sprawling neo-Gothic parliament building alongside 140 of his party representatives.
Tisza now controls 141 seats in Hungary's 199-seat parliament. Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition controls 52 seats, down from 135, while the far-right Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party holds six seats.
The 199 representatives took their oaths of office at around 11 a.m. local time. Orbán was not among them for the first time since Hungary’s first post-Communist Parliament was formed in 1990.
Magyar earlier called on Hungarians to attend an all-day “regime-change” celebration on Kossuth Square outside Parliament to mark his inauguration and the end of the Orbán era. Thousands had already gathered in the square as the new representatives were sworn in, many waving Hungarian and EU flags and wearing Tisza T-shirts.
As the crowd watched the proceedings inside Parliament on large screens, cheers erupted whenever Magyar appeared. The new prime minister was set to address the crowd outside after the completion of Parliament's inaugural session.
Hungary's new national assembly has 54 women lawmakers, most from the Tisza party — more than a quarter of the total and the most in Hungary’s history.
One attendee, Andrea Szepesi, an economist from Budapest, said it was “about time” that more female lawmakers held seats in Parliament. Under Orbán's rule, there were fewer women in government than in nearly all of the EU's other 26 nations.
“Finally, women are able to participate in this new, beautiful democratic system and the flourishing of the country,” she told The Associated Press.
Magyar has promised to repair his country’s ties with the EU, which Orbán had pushed to a breaking point, and to restore Hungary’s place among Western democracies, whose standing had been called into question as Orbán drifted ever closer to Russia.
The EU flag was raised on the Parliament building’s facade Saturday afternoon for the first time since Orbán’s government removed it in 2014.
Unlocking about 17 billion euros ($20 billion) of EU funds for Hungary frozen during Orbán’s time in office over rule-of-law and corruption concerns is among the incoming prime minister’s top priorities. The money is sorely needed to help jump-start Hungary’s struggling economy, which has stagnated for the past four years.
Another attendee of the celebration, 27-year-old web designer Áron Farsang, said he expects the new Tisza government to restore Hungary's democratic institutions and to “lead us back toward the European Union.”
“I would also really like it if we could get rid of the Russian influence as soon as possible,” he said. “I’m thinking about energy dependency and their general political style.”
Many of the nearly 3.4 million Hungarians that voted for Tisza expect Magyar to hold Fidesz officials and their business allies accountable for the perceived misconduct of the outgoing administration.
Magyar plans to form a National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, an authority tasked with investigating and seeking to recover public funds misused during Orbán’s tenure. He’s also vowed to suspend the news services of Hungary’s public broadcaster — widely seen as a mouthpiece of Orbán’s party — until objectivity can be restored.
In his speech to lawmakers Saturday, Magyar referenced his intentions to hold former officials accountable for past abuses, saying voters had “given us a mandate to open a new chapter in Hungary’s history.
“We must understand, however, that there can be no new beginning without reconciliation. There can be no reconciliation without justice. And there can be no justice without confronting the past,” he said.
Hungary's new Prime Minister Peter Magyar leaves the Hungarian Parliament after ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Peter Magyar takes the oath as Hungary's prime minister during a ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Peter Magyar takes the oath as Hungary's prime minister during a ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Peter Magyar takes the oath as Hungary's prime minister during a ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Peter Magyar takes the oath as Hungary's prime minister during a ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
General view of the Hungarian Parliament's main hall during the inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister Peter Magyar in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar smiles before the inauguration ceremony at the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar gestures before the inauguration ceremony at the Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar, center, arrives with fellow lawmakers at the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
A member of the Hungarian parliament guard wait in the morning before the inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister Peter Magyar in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Members of the Hungarian parliament guard wait in the morning before the inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister Peter Magyar in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar, center, arrives with fellow lawmakers at the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar, center, arrives with fellow lawmakers at the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
