This Friday, August 1, if you order a medium pizza from Spak Brothers pizza you’ll receive a limited edition pizza box with a screen print by one of four Common Wealth Press artists: Mark Bogacki, Everyday Balloons, Dan Rugh, and Keith Caves.
Pizza boxes are unique and the perfect canvas to paint on. Your art reaches nearly everyone, and it provides some joy to the pizza enthusiasts who has something nice to look at in their passenger seat as they drive home to live out their pizza fantasy.
Pittsburgh has been blowing up on the pizza map lately. With Pizza Cono opening earlier this year and the Return to Pizza Dojo taking place just last weekend—there’s no shortage of pizza news and innovation in Pittsburgh.
I talked with Dan Rugh a bit about this art exhibition. Why pizza boxes? Why now? What is it about pizza that brings worlds together?
PWWM: Why put art on pizza boxes?
Dan Rugh (DR): well with that kind of attitude, why put anything anywhere. For serious though, it’s a big flat white surface just screaming for artwork. How can’t you just start drawing on it?
Plus you get to flip it open and BAM theres pizza there…and if you’re fast enough you can eat it all yourself.
PWWM: What is it about pizza that brings communities and cultures together? It’s a universal phenomenon and I’m interested in hearing your take on things.
DR: If you have pizza, people want the pizza and will be nice to you to get the pizza.
I think what you are saying “brings communities and cultures together” is actually just a larger universal ploy of sneaky individuals gunning for each others food.
PWWM: What do you think of the Pizza Pittsburgh scene lately? With Pizza Boat and the latest Pizza Dojo event, it’s really blowing up.
DR: Theres a scene? What does that mean?
Besides that, im cool with the dojo shit talking pizza fight, thats awesome. There should be more shit talking amongst people. Especially sneaky individuals gunning for each others food.
PWWM: Is this about getting your art in front of pizza enthusiasts? Or are you implying that pizza itself is art, the box it comes in should also be art?
DR: We are pals with Spak brothers. You can’t fight the natural flow of events. We are artists, they make pizza. It was inevitable.
This Friday, remember to call Spak Brothers at 412-362-SPAK (7725) to get your medium pizza decorated by the artists of
Common Wealth Press.