We started an art contest in the mid-1980s and have continued the tradition every few 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 five of our restaurants. We love the art and the artists and are excited and honored to be able to share some of the art on our website!

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.

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!

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!

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

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

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

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.

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




