Mother always said not to play with your food. But the containers the food is packaged in – now, there’s a loophole.
On Nov. 14, an art event in Hayward will highlight that humble but culturally treasured packaging medium: the pizza box. Suitably, the venue is not a gallery or a museum but a pizza parlor, Rayo’s Pizza on Mission Blvd., which has baked hot pies since 2022.
The inaugural “Pizza Box Art Show” is a production of the Art of the Bay Collective, a group of creatives that stage art popups and community activities throughout the East Bay. (The collective just opened its first retail store/art studio in the Niles district of Fremont, called Cassa Jam — check it out next time you’re around.)
The main show will run just that one night. But any boxes that aren’t sold then, will remain in the restaurant for public admiration (and purchase) for some time after.
“As far as inspiration for the show, we hosted a ‘paint-your-own-pizza-box’ meetup earlier this year at Rayo’s Pizza. It was a fun meetup where folks just painted any design that they wanted,” says Nando Escobar, a founding member of the collective and curator for this show. “It was such a hit that Rayo’s Pizza and the community who participated wanted to do a future art show, so that they had more time to work on their box art.”
The show features more than two-dozen artworks executed on pizza boxes, an unlikely canvas whose modern form was invented by Domino’s in the 1960s. These are not large boxes, rather the personal 8-by-8 inch containers. The subject matter for the paintings ranges from lovably freakish monsters to cartoon characters to stranger things (think, anthropomorphic ninja pepperoni).
Slimer from “Ghostbusters” is represented, chowing down on an ooey-gooey slice. Oddly enough, in a media preview there were no appearances from the Teenage Mutant Turtles and their favorite indulgence.
“It was pretty much paint whatever your heart desires, with some minor guidelines,” Escobar says. “Just make the artwork family-friendly, since it would be displayed at a restaurant, and (perhaps) incorporate any pizza themes.”
Perhaps the U.S. government’s tariffs have affected the price of canvas, because interestingly enough, this isn’t the first art show to rely on pizza boxes in 2025.
In January, an arts hall in Atlantic City hosted the final installment in a three-part extravaganza devoted to slice containers. And this summer, a group show at the Chico Art Center in Chico, Calif., saw dozens of pizza boxes decorated like a record player, an octopus, a dreamcatcher and other unexpected motifs.
Details: Opening-night celebration is 6-9 p.m. Nov. 14 at 32681 Mission Blvd., Hayward; free event, pizza and refreshments provided with RSVP, for information visit instagram.com/artofthebayshow
