Eye’s Gallery will take a year to repair after Jim’s Steaks fire, but its iconic mosaics will be restored

To some Philadelphians, watching billows of smoke come out of Jim’s Steaks on Fourth and South Streets in late July was like watching Notre Dame burn, and at the risk of offending Parisians, they said as much.

Fans took to the internet to remember orders past — onions semi-translucent with a bit of a char, bread that’s absorbed just enough cheesesteak jus, perfectly melted cheese with bits of meat and onion crisps — and wish one of the “big four” cheesesteak haunts a speedy rehab.

There was less buzz around the Eye’s Gallery next door, which also suffered damage in the fire and has been closed since.

The storefront has stood out for decades with its mosaic of glass and colorful tile arranged by Isaiah Zagar, the artist behind the famed Painted Bride Art Center and Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. He and his wife, Julia Zagar, opened the gallery 53 years ago when there was little on the strip. A 1993 Daily News article described the pair as “pioneers in the South Street renaissance.”

» READ MORE: What we know about the Jim’s Steaks fire

That legacy is just one factor driving Julia to embark on what looks like a yearlong effort to reopen the three-story shop after the fire — believed to have stemmed from the HVAC system at Jim’s — penetrated the second floor, causing smoke damage throughout the building. She described the space as a landmark “for the creative spirit of South Street” that serves Queen Village residents, Philly newcomers, and art collectors.

Mike Harris, executive director of the South Street Headhouse District, said the space’s influence, as much as its ability to draw tourists, is why so many are rooting for a return.

“They were one of the first pioneer hippie stores after the Crosstown Expressway was closed, really them, and a handful of others, set the tone for how South Street would be known for the next 50 years,” he said.

Still, the path to reopening is long and the space will undoubtedly look different.

“We have begun working with a designer to help make something that’s new and beautiful,” she explained while on a trip to visit vendors in Mexico. “Not necessarily a replication of what was but something that has what we believe in and love so that we can reopen.”

The shop sold an assortment of Latin American handmade goods including handbags, tabletops, and native costumes imported from such countries as Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru. Zagar suspects smoke damage will make some of these pieces unsalvageable and the collection available upon reopening automatically smaller.

Already, the first floor’s sculpted wooden ceiling had to be ripped out and the basement was flooded with about four feet of water. Delicate, once-colorful textiles are covered in soot — a problem that can’t be remedied at the local cleaners.

One silver lining is that the mosaiced walls of glass and colorful broken tiles created by Isaiah Zagar weren’t completely destroyed. The Magic Gardens’ restoration team will help salvage as many of the walls as possible and the artist hopes to participate in the redesign that will incorporate his original mosaics, though the 83-year-old doesn’t plan to climb scaffolding and ladders.

Despite the long to-do list for reopening, Julia described being energized by those who love and rely on the space.

“I’m older but [my employees] are young, and they want to go on and I want to go on with them because it keeps me younger,” she said. The employees will continue to receive pay and health benefits through insurance and a GoFundMe effort.

Upon reopening, Eye’s Gallery will resume featuring the handmade work of artisans from Latin America with a focus on Mexican artists such as Luz Maria Salinas.

Salinas, 70, lives near Mexico City and has worked with the gallery for almost 30 years. Using popotillo, which translates to straw, Salinas has taken Isaiah’s sketches and made paintings out of them. At last count, Salinas said she has made 902 of these popotillo paintings for the Eye’s Gallery throughout their partnership. The steady orders — paid for in dollars — have helped Salinas provide for her family; the loss of business, even for a year, is rough for the artists.

“I’m just glad nothing happened to [the Zagars] or anyone else,” she said in Spanish. “Everything gets better with time and they still want to reopen the store.”

Salinas reunited with the Zagars last weekend. The pair are spending the remainder of August in Mexico, picking up orders meant to stock the store with ceramics from Oaxaca for the holiday season — these will now go to the Magic Gardens.

Zagar is using her time in Mexico to issue a promise to her roughly 30 vendors: The Eye’s Gallery isn’t going anywhere.