Thank goodness artist Michelle Vaughan has a soft spot for pirates. Otherwise, how else would New Yorkers and tourists alike rediscover the magic of the South Street Seaport, hidden beneath glitzy shops and overpriced restaurants?

From now until Oct. 18, history buffs, pirate enthusiasts and NYC addicts can treat themselves to Vaughan's FREE Sea Warriors art exhibit, which depicts 11 historical pirates -- including Queen Teuta and Sir Francis Drake -- painted on wood panels.

If that tharrr does nay be makin' ye jump fer joy, you can now stick one of Vaughan's pirate designs on your wall, thanks to her collaboration with dVider, a modern design studio specializing in wall decals.

So...how did this idea originate?

An avid explorer -- both in art and travel -- Vaughan took an excursion to Antarctica and Patagonia three years ago and was exposed to stories of the famous English circumnavigator and pirate, Sir Francis Drake, and Scottish sailor and alleged pirate, William Kidd. Her curiosity was sparked and the idea for the project was born.

Vaughan hopes that the exhibit will help reintroduce local New Yorkers back to the area. "The Seaport is perceived mostly as a tourist trap, so I want to highlight the eclectic and historical corners of the area, which locals should appreciate and support," she says.

Her project spreads throughout the main streets of the Seaport as well as Cannon's Walk -- a hidden, historical courtyard in the heart of the Seaport.

But what about the pirate wall decals?

Vaughan wanted to create a timeline for the Sea Warriors series on the back of retail shop windows in Cannon's Walk. And since she and Camilla Slattery, dVider's owner and creative director, often bumped into each other in their DUMBO, Brooklyn office building, the two creative minds got to talkin' and realized dVider was the perfect solution.

And so, dVider created the vinyl graphics for Vaughan's exhibit. A few weeks later, Slattery added a brand new sticker to dVider's expanding eclectic collection: the branch-and-leaf-like pirate silhouette, which -- in my opinion -- makes for a sweet fall season wall decoration.