Commission an artist to create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece for your restaurant
Over the past year, Michael Pollack has become the most celebrated artist in the pizza world. The founder of New Haven Pizza Club created a 9,000-pound sculpture valued by an independent appraiser at $175,000, worked on Connecticut’s breakout pizza tourism campaign and raised $100,000 to provide families whose children are being treated for cancer with free pizza at the hospital – allowing them to stay by their children’s bedsides.
Pollack’s quest began after visiting the Banksy Museum and seeing how the mystery artist’s timing and placement created an experiential phenomenon through disruption. After brainstorming subjects to represent him, Pollack landed on pizza.
“I’m from New Haven. I grew up on pizza,” he tells Pizza Today. “It brings people together. It nourishes people. It’s something that transcends cultural boundaries.”
Though it has found a permanent home next to Modern Apizza, Pollack’s 9,000-pound Pizza Capital Monument has moved several times since it was unveiled. I’m “just trying to be loud and disruptive in a positive way and do things that are really going to surprise people,” he says. “No one in the history of the art world has ever moved a 9,000-pound sculpture around.”
Pollack has found a natural ally in Anthony Anthony, chief marketing officer for the state of Connecticut, who commissioned the artist to create a sculpture using highway signs meant to drive pizza tourism in the state. After unveiling the piece at a press conference in February, Pollack asked those present to sign it using his trademark gold marker, allowing them to engage with the art. The sculpture was notarized and hung at the New Haven Airport, “which is the only way you can fly in and out of the pizza capital,” Pollock says.
An Artist’s View of Art Commissions
When approached about creating an art commission, Pollack says he visits the owner in their space to discuss the customer base and the vibe of their restaurant. He asks about logistics of the project such as budget, size and placement as well as preferences about materials.
“I don’t need them to come to me necessarily with the concept – although they’re more than welcome to do that because creatively managing expectations is a big deal,” Pollack says. “There could be numbers, there could be signs, there could be things about generations before you started your business that we can weave into said commission.”
Ultimately, Pollack says the pizzeria should choose to work with an artist whose artistic vision they trust, realizing that each creation is an asset. “I can make something for $500; I can make something for $5,000,” he says. “Art is an asset. It should be treated as such.”
Farrelli’s Pizza
Lacey, Washington
Around 2015, the leadership team at Farrelli’s Pizza took a trip to Nashville and was struck by the interactive art on display around Music City. Restaurant partner and Chief Marketing Officer Clayton Krueger remembers returning home to Washington state and thinking about how Farrelli’s could incorporate unique artwork at its own storefronts.
The pizzeria sought a design that blended its brand and elements of the Pacific Northwest, reinforcing to the public that Farrelli’s is a locally owned company. Krueger did not have to look far to identify the perfect artist for the job.
As a teenager, Tacoma-based artist Curtis Ashby worked in the kitchen at Farrelli’s store in Sumner, Washington, and he later kept in touch with pizzeria management by working on designs for balloons, T-shirts and other small projects. Thinking about an indoor mural, Krueger asked the artist to come up with a design that wove together pizza and regional identity. Ashby – a bird enthusiast – returned with a mockup depicting a stack of pizza boxes with a nature scene inside the lid and a bird flying out. The team loved the design, and Ashby set to work creating a mural for Farrelli’s locations, each of which features a different bird native to the Pacific Northwest.
“He is a bird fanatic, and a lot of his large-format murals around the Pacific Northwest are of birds,” Krueger says of the artist. “This gave him creative license for the idea.”
Pizza Wings and Tap Handles
When it came time for Farrelli’s to execute its idea for an interactive art display, Ashby’s love for birds was central to the design of pizza wings, which adorn an exterior wall at the Point Ruston location because it has the most foot traffic.
“He was the right guy to do it because he understands how to take something from a computer screen and get it scaled up to the size of the wall. He has a really cool process for that,” Krueger says.
Once again, Ashby provided Farrelli’s with a mockup of his idea, which married pizza with avian anatomy. All day long, the staff of Farrelli’s in Point Ruston see passersby taking photos of themselves in front of the pizza wings. Krueger says the mural works as native marketing, since people photograph themselves with the wings and tag Farrelli’s when they post the images to social media.
Krueger partnered with Ashby once again this year, when Farrelli’s celebrated its 30th year in business by collaborating with Mac & Jack’s Brewery, a local craft brewer also celebrating its 30th anniversary. The pair ultimately selected a blond ale called PnW Gold to reflect the two iconic Pacific Northwest brands. Coincidentally, the Washington state bird is the goldfinch, and Ashby licensed an image of a goldfinch in front of a wheat stalk for Farrelli’s to feature on PnW Gold tap handles.
“His history with the company, his passion for the brand. He’s developed his own skill set and passion for what he does,” Krueger says of Ashby. “Marrying those two things is where we get a really special result.”
Tips for Commissioning an Artist
Krueger tells Pizza Today that having a good understanding of an artist’s style is key before agreeing to collaborate on a project. Really consider whether the artist’s style is a fit for your brand, he says.
Pizzerias will have to research artists to see what work they already have completed. For example: If you are looking for a large-format brick mural, and the artist you are considering only has worked in watercolor on canvas, the project could be beyond their skill set. Such a mismatch could result in a half-finished mural.
In Farrelli’s case, they approached Ashby with an idea for a project, and the artist quoted the restaurant a price that included the cost of supplies. It helped that the pizzeria was willing to work around the artist’s schedule, since Washington state muralists are particularly busy during the Northwest’s limited season for painting outdoors.
“He brings everything he needs … very specific types of outdoor paints that wouldn’t be something I could supply,” Krueger says. “His work is in demand, and we’ve been fortunate to keep a good relationship him, so he prioritizes our business.”
Finally, Krueger says not to overlook the talent you already have on staff and start them small – such as creating a design for a chalk board or a T-shirt.
Sunny’s Pizzeria
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
When Jon Oppold opened Sunny’s Pizzeria, the most prominent side of the building was “a blank canvas” facing a main artery in Sioux Falls. But after calling some of the city’s better-known muralists, he realized their prices were outside his budget.
As a former creative marketing professional, he decided to turn the project into a contest, offering the winning artist a $1,000 prize to create a mural. The contest earned media attention that was positive for the pizzeria, and ultimately 14 artists submitted concepts.
“My only direction was I wanted it to be something that had to do with Sioux Falls, and I also wanted it to be something that was socially sharable,” Oppold tells Pizza Today, adding that he ultimately selected Wyatt Dickson’s “Sioux Falls Wall of Notability,” featuring noteworthy Sioux Falls residents past and present. The concept spoke to the pizzeria owner because he can induct a new resident for the wall each year.
“It gave us the opportunity to have a recurring event. We’re adding a third (new inductee) to it this year,” Oppold says. To select the 2025 local personality, he came up with three nominees and posted them on social media for a vote.
The public selected racing legend Doug Wolfgang, who was born in Sioux Falls, as this year’s inductee. By creating a recurring event, Oppold calls the mural “the gift that keeps on giving” and “a reason to throw a party every year.”
Plus, artist and contest winner Dickson has a standing gig to add to the wall each year.
Artist-Turned Pizzeria Manager
One of the runners-up for the initial mural contest is now the manager of Sunny’s Pizzeria. Oppold learned the woman seeking to build a full-time art career also worked in pizza. “Part of the reason she was interested in working with us is the fact that we support local art,” he says.
Once per year, Sunny’s Pizzeria holds an art market for creators to sell their wares to the public.
“We love supporting local art because it helps beautify a city, and everybody has their own spin on things to make a city unique,” Oppold says.
“You need some rules, but the more liberty you give them to make it their own, it’s something they can be proud of,” he says, adding that too many opinions can dilute the original idea.
Advice for Art Collectors
Looking back, Oppold is pleased he opened the contest up to lesser known artists to give them a chance to build their portfolios. “For every one muralist, I’ll bet there’s eight others that have always wanted to do a mural but have never been asked,” he says. “Especially if a restaurant owner has a limited marketing budget, you can get something really cool to help market your business but also let a new artist spread their wings,”
One thing pizzerias should consider before adding to the outside of their buildings is getting required permits and approvals from authorities such as the planning and zoning department or art council. Direct advertising, for example, might not be allowed. If the design in question uses the likeness of a famous person (as in the case of Sunny’s), it might take time to get their permission.
Visitors to the Sunny’s Pizzeria website can view a page that identifies everyone on the mural and offers a short bio that includes their connection to Sioux Falls. Personalities include everyone from Mad Men actress January Jones to major-league baseball player Donn Clendenon and French bulldog Sunny, the namesake of Sunny’s Pizzeria.
Black Dog Pizzeria
Dublin, Ohio
When Jessica Hellaine first launched Black Dog Pizzeria in Dublin, Ohio, she knew she wanted a gallery wall. Short on cash after renovating the space, she set to work creating art for the space on her own.
“I tried to do different medias like painting on wood to make it look eclectic,” she says, adding that today the wall features crochet and watercolor in addition to framed pen-and-ink drawings. “After that, I had friends that offered stuff. Once it was built up, customers would come in and offer to put things up.”
Hellaine gave volunteers guidelines to make pieces that were pizza themed or specific to the shop. Once the pizzeria was more established, she began approaching artists whose work she admired and purchased pieces to feature on the gallery wall.
One of her favorites is an India ink drawing of a Ouija board, where the artist’s dog is in the corner. “She also did one that’s a Ouija planchette for us, but it’s a pizza shape,” Hellaine says.
Starting Your Own Gallery Wall
Hellaine suggests pizzerias looking to create their own gallery walls consider their restaurant identity and seek out artists with a similar aesthetic. “If you’re a classy joint, you don’t want pictures of a giant anthropomorphic pizza licking a cat,” she says. More family-oriented locations, meanwhile, can solicit children’s artwork and dress them up with a frame.
Once her own wall was full, Hellaine says she started rotating certain pieces out. “The community likes that,” she says, “because if you put up somebody’s art, then they’re sharing it with everybody. So, you’re getting more people interested, more people seeing your pizza shop.”
When Hellaine selects the work of an artist for the wall, she’ll give them a code they can use indefinitely when they order pizza. “Art takes time,” she says, adding that the code typically entitles the owner to half off their meal.
KATE LAVIN is Senior Editor at Pizza Today.
Read the November 2025 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine
This month, we are diving deep on all things cheese. Learn how the fluctuating commodities market can impact the price you pay for mozzarella and other block cheeses. Then, find out how operators are using craft beer cheddar, gorgonzola and plant-based cheeses made from cashews, coconuts, peas and other bases to create pizzas that are visually and gastronomically stunning. Round out your education for the month by brushing up on pizzeria art, SOPs and winter squash.
Check out the full Digital Edition – Pizza Today November 2025.
