Pizza Art

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!

Vintage-style illustration of three women in green uniforms enjoying pizza under the bold text Zacharys. Each woman holds or eats a slice, with one serving from a pizza tray. A red circle partially encircles the text.

April Galvin

2011

A surreal painting of a pizza slice with a human face, featuring blue eyes and a red mouth. It wears a blue hat and suit, holding a movie camera. The background has Zacharys Chicago Pizza written in red.

Chris Papa

2001

A childs drawing with a princess wearing a green crown, holding a pepperoni pizza slice. Text reads: Zacharys pizza I love you, I love you!!! Princesses love pepperoni pizza! Signed Eva Joseph, Age 4.

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!

Retro-style poster with fiery text saying It Came From... Zacharys Chicago Pizza. Features two flying pizzas and a surprised woman looking up. The background is colorful and chaotic, with a vintage sci-fi/horror theme.

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.”

A vintage-style poster with the text The joy of eating Zacharys Chicago Pizza is why we come back again and again. Features illustrations of a smiling woman and man enjoying slices of pizza topped with pepperoni.

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.”

A colorful painting of a butterfly with yellow and red wings. Above it is a sun with Zacharys written inside. Below, flowers in red, white, and blue, a bee hovering, and a brown rabbit are set against a blue sky background.

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!”

Childs drawing of a yellow dog wearing a blue collar with Zach on it, surrounded by two pizzas with slices. Zacharys is written in red at the top. A small Morgan 8 is written in the bottom left corner. The background is blue.

Morgan Marsh

2015

An Egyptian-themed mural depicts ancient figures with a modern twist, incorporating pizzas and vegetables. The top reads Zacharys, and the scene features vivid colors and hieroglyphic-style art blending history with modern elements.

Pharoahs

2005

Michelle Petherick & Richard Cooluirs

A colorful painting features a pink background with a cat on a pizza atop a table. Speech bubbles say, cats live longer if they eat pizza, among other playful cat-related notes. A seated cat holds a drink. Text reads 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!

A colorful painting depicts cartoonish figures eating pizza at a table. One figure has green skin and another wears sunglasses. A large pizza with various toppings is shared, and the setting appears to be a lively pizza shop.

M. Yamagata

1995

A colorful painting features a Bigfoot holding a large white sign with a red crescent. Bigfoot walks beside a tree labeled Zacharys with a backdrop of a river, trees, and cloudy sky. Flowers and mushrooms decorate the foreground.

Todd Paoletti

2009

Poster of a stylized illustration featuring a person holding a pizza above their head, with text Zacharys Chicago Pizza Inc. The background is divided into yellow and red.

Kevin Brown

2003

Illustration of a smiling figure resembling a Buddha holding a pizza slice on a string. The figure sits with a box labeled Zacharys Chicago Pizza, under a red Zen circle with the word Zen inside. Text reads Zacharys Chicago Pizza Inc.

Tom Galvin

2009

Vintage-style poster for Zacharys Pizza, featuring a woman in a dynamic pose holding a pizza slice and a pie. She wears a green-striped dress and hat, with the text Le meilleure Pizza en ville below.

Robin Gilas

2005

Childs drawing of a cowboy on a rearing horse, lassoing a pizza in the sky. The text reads Lasso a Zacharys Pizza! The background features cacti, a sun, and desert hills. The artists name and age, Emma Jones, Age 10, are noted.

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.

Colorful underwater scene with a dolphin, pufferfish, purple fish, and pink seahorse surrounding a large clam with a pearl inside. Text reads Precious as a Pearl and Zacharys with bubbles and seaweed accents.

Naumi Emoto, 13 years old

2012

Illustration of a woman in a blue dress with pizza toppings, sitting on a chair. Shes against an orange background with flying birds and floral patterns. An old portrait is framed on the wall. Text reads Zacharys Chicago Pizza Inc.

Birthe Lauvdal

2012

Colorful artwork of a person in bed, dreaming of a large pepperoni pizza. Text reads Dreaming of Zacharys Pizza. The room is filled with stars, a dresser with fruit, and a window showing a crescent moon.

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

laurenari.com

Pop art style image of a woman and man about to kiss. Speech bubble from the man reads, I think Im falling in love! Zacharys Chicago Pizza is written in the top left corner.

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.

A whimsical painting of a blue anthropomorphic cat wearing a pink apron, holding a pizza, and standing near an oven. A purple cat and a green cat watch. A retro clock and the word Purrrfecto!!! are on the wall.

Marko Yamagata

2015