We started an art contest in the mid-1980s and have continued the tradition every two years or so since then. We now have over 300 pieces of Zachary’s pizza art from the past three decades! The winning artwork decorates the walls in all four of our restaurant locations in the San Francisco Bay Area: Oakland, Berkeley, San Ramon, and Pleasant Hill. We love the art and the artists and we are excited and honored to be able to share some of the art on our website!
Pizza-Crazy Cats
Sophia Maria Brown
2017
Age 10
I fell in love with Zachary's pizza the first time it touched the tip of my tongue. I loved doing the artwork and it was a bonus to win twice! I think everyone should participate. Love live Zachary's!
Phases of Pizza
Ryan Pera
2017
Besides my everyday fascination with the universe, galaxy, the solar system, the moon, and the sun, my piece, titled “Phases of Pizza”, was inspired from watching my nephew put in work, like a real artist, when push comes to shove, with two days to work before the deadline of this contest. While waiting to be seated at the College Ave location, my nephew eagerly asked me if I had a piece of paper and a pen. I did, since I never leave home without my small sketchbook and pen. His ideas were flowing. Everyone loves pizza, I mean everyone… but to witness a kid, at the age of eight, not wanting to finish his pizza, only because he wanted to win his first art contest (with the prize of more pizza and having his artwork hang on the walls), was honestly my true inspiration through making this piece.
Editor's note: Ryan's nephew, Jalen, was also one of our winners! See our blog about Ryan and Jalen for more information.
Not Just a Pizza – A Lifestyle
Stew Ellington
2017
My painting was inspired by a dual love for Zachary’s deep-dish spinach-and-mushroom pizza and vintage Italian Vespa scooters. I thought it would be a good idea to connect the two by making the front wheel of the scooter a deep-dish pizza. I had a lot of fun using bright, primary colors to imitate the style of Italian Vespa ads from the 50s and 60s. It’s so awesome to take part in this community tradition! Thanks, Zachary’s!
The Connoisseur
Hannah de Vries
2015
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!
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.
Enjoy Zachary’s Pizza
Pete Docter
I like to draw and paint yet don’t do it often enough. The allure of winning free pizza was strong and I made a few posters.
Influences: 1950’s poster design, especially Paul Rand, Cassandre, and Raymond Savignac. Also children’s book illustrator Roy McKee (he illustrated the Dr. Seuss books “Ten Apples Up on Top” and “Snow”).
My whole family loves Zachary’s Pizza, though we’re divided over which is best: stuffed pesto mushroom or stuffed pepperoni. Actually thin crust sausage onion is pretty good too. When both of our kids were born, we smuggled Zachary’s into the maternity ward.
Mama Meow Purrrrfecto
Marko Yamagata
2015
Zach the Dog
Morgan Marsh
2015
Walking on Sunshine
Zoe Boston
2017
“Walking on Sunshine” was inspired by my passion for food, visual art, and fashion. I love the challenge of combining the three to make tasty looking masterpieces. I believe Great food, great art and, great fashion have the power to uplift your spirits and truly make you feel like you’re walking on sunshine! I’m so pleased in knowing that my art was chosen to grace the walls of one of the best pizza places in the Bay Area.
Zachary’s Pizza Is Made With Happiness
Simone Gardner
2015
Howling For Zachary’s
Rianne Myers
2015
Howling Wolf
Eric Perko
2015
In The Oven
Lois Rosson
2015
Love Is Three Tiers Of Zachary’s
Lori and William Wallace
2015
My son, William (13 yrs old) and I are deeply grateful to Zachary’s for the joy it brings our lives. Not only the DELICIOUS gluten free pizza (thank you, thank you!), but also the connection it weaves through community. We have monitored the art contest for years and have waited for the opening where time and creative spark would coincide and bring us to this moment of participation. And here we are! The inspiration behind this piece was to weave in the theme of "shared love”. What better depiction of shared love than a wedding day and the site of a loving groom feeding his delighted bride a slice of Zachary’s deep dish?! Love IS Zachary’s Pizza xo
Make Pizza Not War
Ian Ransley
2015
Berkeley-born and raised designer Ian Ransley loves Zachary’s Pizza!! Who in Berkeley doesn’t? But Ian has found a way to graphically express his admiration for the famous deep-dish, Chicago-style pies — not once, but a dozen times.
Ian grew up in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood (near the Solano Zachary’s). His mom still lives in the neighborhood house he grew up. Ian did spend some time away from his beloved Berkeley getting a design degree from UC Davis. In the years since he has designed for Chevron, HP, Cisco and of course, Zachary’s! For the past decade Ian has designed the stadium graphics for the Super Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and currently for the NHL Winter Classic in Foxboro.
Even though Ian has designed the stadium graphics for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos he is known as the guy who won the Zachary’s Pizza poster contest. Ian is a single Dad with two Zachary’s-loving boys, Dylan and Fabien.
You can check out all of Ian’s work at http://www.
Hanging Pizza – Hanging Cat
Nikola Bachman
2012
Hi my name is Nikola. I just graduated from high school this past June. While attending high school, I was also taking art classes at Berkeley City College. I’m currently enrolled in my fourth art class at BCC. I'm drawn to Japanese animation and graphic novels. Someday I'd love to visit Japan. Drawing older architectural buildings using a realistic cartoon flare, is one of my styles as small details are important to me. 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, even though they look nothing alike. It was the first time that I've entered one of my art pieces into a contest. I was happily surprised to have won! This was the third time however, that I've had my art up for public display. Another important project of mine is writing a graphic novel. The title, story line and illustrations are all my own and I hope to be published someday. I like going out to eat with my family. Our favorite spot for pizza is Zachary's. We always order the Chicago deep dish, with mushrooms and spinach. Yummy!
Zachary’s… Always My Favorite Place
Stephanie Kwan
2007
Zachary’s Kiss
ZAK WILSON
1992
I'm a big fan of pop art and wanted to create something in that style. The Roy Lichtenstein look fit the vibe of the idea. That and I wanted to win some free pizza. (The first time I ate Zachary’s) had to be in the mid 80's sometime. A good friend worked at the Solano store so I was turned on to Zachary's Pizza early in the game. That same friend is now one of the owners.
I'm a native of Berkeley and have been in the Bay Area my whole life. Aside from the cost of living what's not to like about the Bay Area? All my immediate family is here. Good weather, culture, sports, food (hint, hint...). It's one of many amazing places in the country...but this one happens to be home.
Zachary’s Heavyweight Champion
Chuck Waite
2005
Zachary’s Cranes
Lindsey Rosellini
2012
Zachary’s Ballet Dancer
Cindy Chan
.. we love Zachary's Pizza; it's the best, combined with the high energy of the staff and how everyone seems to be having a great time, it's like a party that never stops.
2003
Zachary’s Atlas
Kevin Brown
2003
Zachary’s Art
Katie Jang
2011
Yeti Pizza
Todd Paoletti
2009
Year of the Rabbit
Mary Youm
2011
Wild About Zachary’s
Amber Huk
2007
Timeless Pizza
Birthe Lauvdal
2012
The Rise of the Dough
Ian Ransley
2009
Ian Ransley is a single father of two Zachary's-loving boys. Ian is a Berkeley native and a professional graphic designer. He splits his time designing Zachary's posters and designing for professional sports teams and events including the NHL Winter Classic and the NFL Super Bowl among many other events. He is a dual-citizen of the U.S. And Great Britain. Growing up in a British home he never had pizza so Ian can't get enough of it now. Ian annoys his two sons using them time and again in many of his art projects. You can check out some of Ian's work (and more of Zachary's posters) at www.berkeleygraphicdesign.com.
The Pizza of Your Dreams
Raquel Royal
2011
The Mark of Zachary’s
Donna and Tony Aweeka
2009
“On May 27, 2008 our wonderful rescued mare, Satin's Fancy, presented us with a beautiful black filly...unexpectedly. We named her Satin's Prize, S'Prize for short. When we began this piece we knew we wanted Zorro on a black horse, hence S'Prize. The rest just fell into place, as art projects usually do. We had a good time with this one, letting it unfold as it developed a life of its own. Tony was the model for Zorro, and a Zachary's pizza box gave us some inspiration, as well as a GREAT pizza.” – Donna Aweeka
Take Me to Your Pizza
Nadira Berman, age 9
2005
Sir Zachary
Leo Gould, 11 years old
2009
Joy of Eating
Marvin Ehrlich
2012
"My name is Marvin Ehrlich. May 29th, 2014, I will be 89 years old. It makes me happy to win a Zachary’s poster contest at my age. The right question is 75% of the solution. “What makes Zachary’s so successful?” became “The Joy of eating a Zachary’s pizza is why we come back again and again” (illustrated with a woman and a man joyfully eating a wedge of pizza). Good luck to you all."
Riders
Lynn Smull
2005
Precious as a Pearl
Naumi Emoto, 13 years old
2012
Pizza Princess
Eva Jaeger, 4 years old
2005
When I created this piece my family had moved from Berkeley to Manhattan for a year. When I look at this piece now it conjures up all the emotions of those moments: a longing for home and familiar things like Zachary’s, the excitement and adventure of being somewhere unknown and the joy of knowing that I’d be back to have some pizza soon. And of course, I was 4 and loved Princesses!
My inspiration for this piece was all the things I loved. Princesses, pink, big art and pizza. I actually didn’t really like Pepperoni (truth be known) but the alliteration was too good to pass up! The process I used for this piece was to draw it on a smaller piece of paper and then spread out on the floor, with all my markers tossed around, and the paper taped down. Shoes off and spread across the whole thing I sketched by pencil and then dried out just about every marker pen filling in the spaces. My brother, who was in 1st grade at the time, was also drawing next to me. His poster actually was awarded an Honorable Mention and I was happy to be creating our pieces together.
This may be the peak of my artistic recognition. Since that time the pieces I’ve created are much smaller and much more private, rarely venturing into public space. I like to express my creativity in crafts, writing, on the stage and on the soccer field. And my love for Princesses and pizza have also become a bit more subdued as I pursue higher ambitions than just being royalty. The thing I haven’t changed since then is a love for Zachary’s pizza. Just finished one a minute ago!
Pizza Gangster
Chris Papa
2001
Pizza Butterfly
Pizza Butterfly
Emma Ruth, age 6
2012
"When I first mentioned the art contest to Emma (she was six at the time) her immediate response was “C’mon, let’s get started!” She then began producing sketches. One of these had a couple of butterfly’s, but originally with more normal butterfly wings with pizza slices as the wing pattern. I made the suggestion the design could be strengthened by having the wings BE pizza slices, and the final composition was arrived at!”
Pals at Zachary’s
M. Yamagata
1995
Pals and Dolphins
Elena S, age 9
2012
My name is Elena and I am currently 10 years old. I was born in Tokyo, Japan, but moved to America when I was 4. I now live in San Ramon, and am about to graduate from Coyote Creek Elementary School.
Martial arts, drawing, and painting are my favorite hobbies. I also like singing and music and will keep continuing it until I am too busy. In martial arts ( karate),I am a brown white stripe belt. If I have any free time I would love to read, draw, or play video games (until my parents stop me).
I entered the Zachary’s art contest in 2008 and again in 2010 because I love drawing, painting and eating Zachary’s pizza. I was so happy when my school received the $1,500 for the award in 2008. That money was spent on the art program at Coyote Creek, and helped make the art very exciting all through out Coyote Creek.
Thank You Zachary’s!
One With Everything
Tom Galvin
2009
Lucky Leprechaun
Katie Jones, age 8
Love Letter to Zachary’s
Maia VuMinnich, 9 years old
2011
Le Meillure en Ville
Robin Gilas
2005
Lasso a Zachary’s Pizza
Emma Jones, age 10
Hey, thanks for scrolling over my artwork! Waiting around for your food to come isn't fun unless you're at Zachary's Pizza and gawking at all of the colorful, original artwork. So when I saw my shot to bring some joy to the casual diners, rolled up in this huge blank piece of paper for a contest, I couldn't wait to get going. The paper really is huge, so one of the tile hallways in our house was promptly converted into an art studio (my Mom is legendary)! Over time I lost interest in finishing my piece, despite walking past it every day, however I was encouraged to finish it and now I'm so glad I did. Thank you again to Zach's for this honor, and for bringing the taste of sweet home Chicago to the Joneses on their California detour.
Keep on Cookin’
Larry Holstrom
2007
It’s in the Pie
Pete Davis
2001
It Came from Zachary’s
Gaytha Watley
2005
This poster was inspired by Betty Page, Sci-Fi movies & pizza. Gaytha is a tattooer at Sacred Rose Tattoo in Berkeley. She also paints in oils and watercolors, and enjoys ceramics and sewing. “This piece was made with pen & ink. I sketch out the shapes in a light pencil, and build up an outline from there. I color it from light to dark, to keep the light colors from smudging.”
I Left My Heart at Zachary’s
Kirstin Ineich
2012
I always like looking at the different posters created by Zachary's patrons. When the opportunity came to create my own, I had just come back from San Francisco, and I knew I wanted to incorporate it into my piece. The Zachary's logo integrates well with the Golden Gate Bridge, so, I chose to paint the iconic bridge. When I think of San Francisco, I always think of Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" playing after a Giants' home-game win at AT&T Park and the way it makes me feel. And, every time you eat at Zachary's, you get the same feeling. So, I tied the whole thing together with the tagline "I left my heart at Zachary's."
Hooked on Zachary’s
Katia Novak
2011
I grew up at Zachary’s Pizza. It was the first solid food I ever had as a baby, and it is an unspoken tradition in my family to go at least once a month. Since Zachary’s always had a special place in my heart, I thought I’d endear myself in return by contributing some of what I’m best at—art. I drew inspiration for my poster from my love of the sea and my childhood obsession with mermaids and magical things. I still respect my painting for what it taught me in terms of shadow and scale, but since its creation I’ve evolved. I’d like to showcase my new skills in another painting for Zach’s sometime in the near future.
See more of Katia's talents here: http://katianovak.tumblr.com/
Heartcore
Wesley Jensen
2009
Harry’s a Lucky Dog
Lisa Hayle
2005
“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.” – Lisa Hayle
Hands Pizza
Lisa Clark & Play and Learn Butterfly Classroom, ages 3-4
2012
Forbidden Pizza
Bill Crews
2009
Dreaming of Zachary’s Pizza
Lauren Ari
2009
“Lauren's art roars out of the deepest part of her psyche and arrives with great tenderness into the world... Fiercely honest, playful, erotic and provocative, she speaks directly to what is still unfettered in all of us, our wild, free, animal selves.” - Alison Luterman, poet
When I'm lucky -when I trust the processes- I experience a flow and receive what feels like a gift. Although my work is personal, I believe it taps into the universal, and I am looking to connect with others and myself more deeply. These are words I associate with my work: intuitive, awake, unstuffed, humorous, rhythmic, disturbing, engrossing, sexual, figurative, colorful, unique and complex. It is my hope that you will enjoy experiencing the work as much as I enjoy making it. - Lauren Ari
Company Z
April Galvin
2011
Big Hair, Big Pizza
Craig Mcintire
1999
Best Slice
David Seiler
2001
Aarggghhh!
Cindy Chan
“.. we love Zachary's Pizza; it's the best, combined with the high energy of the staff and how everyone seems to be having a great time, it's like a party that never stops.” – Cindy Chan
30 Years of Out of This World Pizza
Ian Ransley
2012
Ian Ransley is a single of father of two Zachary's-loving boys. Ian is a Berkeley native and a professional graphic designer. He splits is time designing Zachary's posters and designing for professional sports teams and events including the NHL Winter Classic and the NFL Super Bowl among many other events. He is a dual-citizen of the U.S. And Great Britain. Growing up in a British home he never had pizza so Ian can't get enough of it now. Ian annoys his two sons using them time and again in many of his art projects. You can check out some of Ian's work (and more of Zachary's posters) at www.berkeleygraphicdesign.com.