For sale: Pizza Brain mural. Condition: Used (good)
Must take whole. Make your best offer.
Pizza Brain, the thin-crust shop/“pizza museum” in Fishtown, closed over the weekend after a 12-year run. Cofounder and head chef Joe Hunter said the plan is to reopen elsewhere, but first, they need to empty the brick-and-mortar on Frankford Avenue.
Hence, a slew of listings Hunter put up on Facebook Marketplace. For sale: some restaurant booths, a prep line fridge, and most notably, the iconic Pizza Brain mural.
“I don’t know what that means outside of our context,” said Hunter, who is asking potential buyers to make him an offer. “But I know that it’s significant, I know it means something to people, I know it’s a pretty impressive piece. It’s cool.”
» READ MORE: After a 12-year run, Pizza Brain in Fishtown is closing its doors and seeking a new home
When The Inquirer messaged Hunter about the mural he replied almost immediately, describing a wave of interest in the piece that has had him attached to his phone. Some people had asked if they could claim a portion of the mural, which he doesn’t want to do unless absolutely necessary.
The mural, which wraps around the shop’s former outdoor seating area, is a giant pizza party with attendees including “people who are either from Philly or made it in Philly throughout history,” said Hunter. The party features Ben Franklin noshing on some ‘za in a cropped tank and star-spangled shorts, Tina Fey, Kobe Bryant, Hall and Oates, Danny DeVito, the Broad Street Bullies, and even some of the owners’ friends — the list goes on.
Ideally, the celebration shan’t be broken up.
Hawk Krall, the local artist behind the mural, has no room for it either.
Krall, whose Instagram is peppered with colorful illustrations of hoagies, hot dogs, and fries, made a post about the mural’s fate. He hoped the mural would make it to a “cool museum/pizza shop/gallery/backyard somewhere!!!” And yes, he said the mural will come off the wall. It was made on 4-by-8 panels and then mounted with cutouts for the door and windows.
Hunter said the Pizza Brain owners need to clear out the space by Saturday, but if no clear buyer emerges, the mural will be put in storage.
So how much is this priceless piece of pizza history? Well, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Hunter is not an art appraiser, he’s not sure. He can only hope to get enough to cover some remaining Pizza Brain bills. Perhaps one of the couples that got married at the space would find the mural worth preserving.
Or maybe there’s a buyer who has an unbridled love for the combination of cheese and dough and like Hunter wants to “celebrate pizza as food and as a cultural phenomenon within our culture.”