The walls of our restaurants are filled with one-of-a-kind Zachary’s Pizza Art. We held our first art contest in the late 1980′s and the tradition has continued every couple of years to this day. We love our art and the artists. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Madison Zuniga!

Zachary’s VP Leandra, ABC7’s Reggie Aqui, Zachary’s Manager Jen

We had a blast with ABC7’s Reggie Aqui! Check out the clip:

http://abc7news.com/entertainment/bay-area-weekend-events-dogfest-zacharys-pizza-art-contest/1897521/

The Zachary’s Art Contest is happening now! The contest is open to all ages. The last day for submissions is Wednesday, May 31st. More details and a complete list of Art Contest guidelines can be found here.

Need some inspiration? Check out our gallery featuring winners from previous years on our Art Page.  Or, you could always swing by one of our restaurants. Pizza is pretty inspiring if you ask us!

The Bi-Annual Zachary’s Art Contest is in full swing! Throughout the years, we have received hundreds of fantastic pieces by some incredibly talented teen and kid artists! These artists are inspired by a wide variety of things and we LOVE seeing where their imaginations fly!

Entries can be submitted by individuals, siblings, groups of friends or classmates.

More information on the art contest can be found here.

Naumi, Age 13

Mary, Age 16

April, Age 12

Maia, Age 9

Katia, Age 16

Madison, Age 11

Cameron, Age 9

Katie, Age 8

The Zachary’s Pizza Art Contest is ON!

Submissions are due May 31, 2017. For details, click here.

What inspires you? Nature? Love? Food? Pizza? Hint, there is a right answer to that question. 😉

For many past winners of the Zachary’s Art Contest, the San Francisco Bay Area serves as the most perfect source of inspiration! We’ve  seen lots of entries that applaud our world-famous bridges, sights in the Bay Area, and Northern California icons. Are you feeling inspired?!

The walls of our restaurants are filled with one-of-a-kind Zachary’s Pizza Art. We held our first art contest in the late 1980′s and the tradition has continued every couple of years to this day. We love our art and the artists. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Hannah de Vries!

My name is Hannah de Vries and art has been my passion from a very young age. My entry was inspired by a famous Norman Rockwell painting called “The Connoisseur.” I alluded to the uniqueness of Zachary’s Pizza by making comparisons to the historical context behind Abstract Expressionism of the 1940’s, a subject that I have studied in school. I worked tirelessly for about three days at a wonderful art gallery called ArtU4ia in downtown Martinez to complete this piece. The most fun I had working on it was by far doing the drip pizza; I loved getting messy and wild with the house paint!

     The first time I bit into a Zachary’s pizza was at my Uncle Bob and Tante Judi’s house near the Solano location. We used to have pizza dinners with my cousins, while our parents would enjoy their wine. There were several nights that our parents had a glass too many, which, to our child knowledge of things meant pizza AND surprise sleepovers! Since then, Zachary’s has been an ongoing favorite family outing. My favorite Zachary’s go-to will forever be the spinach and mushroom deep dish with pesto on the top. My Dad and I usually end up fighting for the last slice.

    I always loved seeing the art that hung on the walls at the Zachary’s College location, and I aspired to enter their art competition for years! Once the Pleasant Hill location opened up closer to my home town, I finally took the opportunity to create something that I was proud to call my own. I am grateful to the Zachary’s staff for their amazing years of service and pizza.

Over the past two decades, our artists have been inspired by a wide range of topics. History? Fictional characters? Popular Culture? Pizza (duh!)? You name it. One theme that consistently shows up in the contests every year is our artists’ love of animals.

Our first example of animal-inspired art is this piece by Lisa Hayle. Hayle has been inspired by her dog Harry for years. Lisa writes, “I heard about Zachary’s Pizza through friends who also mentioned the awesome annual poster contest, which they had won in the past with an entry featuring their two adorable poodles. Soon after, I tasted the deep-dish yumminess for the first time…. I first saw Harry in 2002, while working briefly at the East Bay SPCA in Oakland. It was love at first sight.”

Another canine-inspired piece is “Dog Years” by artist Ian Ransley (visit Ian’s website here!). Ransley has submitted eleven winning pieces in Zachary’s art contests over the years. In addition to putting animals front and center, this piece celebrated our 30th anniversary!

If cats are your furry friend of choice, you have something in common with artist Nikola Bachman. Bachman writes about her winning piece, “I’m a cat lover at heart therefore the kitty in the painting that I drew for Zachary’s was inspired by my own cat Jackson.”

And don’t think that creature-inspired art stops at cats and dogs! Our artists have been inspired by reptiles (Amy Neil, 2005 winner) and insects (Emma Ruth 2012) too!

Animals make their way into the art in big and small ways. We will leave you with several more animal-inspired pieces. The deadline for submissions this year is May 16! Pick up your paper canvas at any Zachary’s location today!

The Zachary’s Pizza Art Contest is happening right now!

See our online art gallery for more details!

We are very lucky to be situated in the ever-changing and consistently beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. Over the years, the winners of the Zachary’s Pizza Art Contest have been inspired by beautiful and celebrated Bay Area landmarks.

EAST BAY:

OUR ICONIC BRIDGES:

SAN FRANCISCO SKYLINE:

BEYOND THE BAY:

We love original pieces that showcase the hundreds of awe-inspiring scenes of the Bay Area (and beyond!). Visit any of our four East Bay locations to get a paper canvas and get started on your winning pizza art today! The deadline for this contest is Saturday, May 16th!

Since the 1980s, Zachary’s has proudly hosted a pizza art contest. The winning entries decorate the walls of the restaurants in Oakland, Berkeley, San Ramon and Pleasant Hill.

The initial idea to host an art contest came from Zachary’s founder, Barbara Gabel. Shortly after Barbara, and co-founder Zach Zachowski, opened the Solano Avenue Zachary’s in 1984, Barbara considered ways to “create a fun ambiance” and “honor local artists” all while changing the art periodically. Thus, the Zachary’s Pizza Art Contest was born!

According to Barbara, “I wanted local artisans to have a place to show their talent and to have it reflect our company. I also knew that in order for customers to truly see and appreciate the art it had to be huge so I chose to require all entries to be 3′ x 4′.”

As everyone can see as soon as they enter Zachary’s, many local artists have contributed lots of amazing pieces. According to Barbara, “I am always humbled by the time and talent the artists devote to each piece. It’s a reflection of how much they respect Zachary’s.” Please visit our online art gallery to see some examples!

The pizza art contest creates an excited buzz around Zachary’s. Customers routinely share their ideas for a winning piece. The Zachary’s crew members try to sneak a peak of each submission that comes through the doors. Little ones, who have been working so hard on their entries, eagerly hand in their artwork and proudly share their creations with the crew. It’s a special time at Zachary’s.

“A final thing I want to mention is how attached we are to each piece (especially when one of us has the opportunity to meet the artist face-to-face)… There is such a wealth of talent in our area… We deeply appreciate the artists, all of whom are our beloved customers,” writes Barbara. “I never come into the restaurants without scanning the art and smiling at the joy behind it.”