Local Artists Hat Series
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Three years ago, prior to the 2023-24 Rockford IceHogs season, the IceHogs and Rockford Area Arts Council began a collaboration to shine a light on talented artists from the greater Rockford region. From the partnership was born the "Local Artists Hat Series," presented by BMO, whereby three local artists each season would be selected to design a hat for a promotional giveaway during the IceHogs season.
The series debuted on Dec. 9, 2023, with the first hat designed by Rockford artist Joe Tallman, and over three seasons has seen nine area artists' designs come to life for IceHogs fans. The series has become a fan-favorite and a much-anticipated opportunity for artists each summer when the call for submissions goes out.
A call for submissions for the 2026-27 season will be coming soon! Untl then, here is a look back at the history of the "Local Artists Hat Series."
2023-24 Artist Hat Series Winners
Joe Tallman
Joe Tallman is a Rockford based illustrator, graphic designer, and screen printer. He has worked with many local businesses, musicians, and agencies as well as clients including Pabst Blue Ribbon and the bands Wilco and Primus. Joe’s winning design was inspired by the vintage feel of Starter caps from his childhood in the 1990’s, specifically college sports mascot logos. Joe has the distinction of being the very first artist to have his hat designed and given away to fans as part of the "Local Artists Hat Series" as fans received his hat on Dec. 9, 2023.
Michael Laskonis
Michael Laskonis is a storyteller, graphic designer, photographer, videographer, art director, and marketer. He is a lifelong Blackhawks fan and loves to play hockey. Michael’s hat design was inspired by the murals that can be found all around Rockford. He used the paint to illustrate the intense action of an IceHogs hockey game. With each brushstroke, he sought to recreate the incredible feeling of speed, power, and breathtaking excitement of an IceHogs game. The design also contains a subtle nod in commemoration of the IceHogs’ 25th season that was celebrated throughout the 2023-24 campaign. IceHogs fans received Michael's hat on Feb. 17, 2024.
Ryan "Stuk One" Lape
Ryan "Stuk One" Lape is a Chicago-based artist and has been a force in the nationwide graffiti scene for more than 20 years. Originally from Rockford, Stuk One specializes in small to large-scale mural work, illustrations, canvas work, merchandise design, inked drawings, and typography. Ryan’s approach to his IceHogs hat design was a nod to a similar design he did for a Chicago Cubs limited release cap back in 2019. IceHogs fans received Ryan's hat on April 6, 2024.
2024-25 Artist Hat Series Winners
Abigail Pixler
Abigail Pixler is an artist based in Loves Park. While she earned a BFA in Graphic Design, Abigail discovered her love for painting several years ago and her specialty and passion are found within portrait and human figure work with a focus on the feminine. She works in acrylic and gouache paints as well as soft pastels. The peace, pleasure and joy found in beauty as a whole is what drives her work. Abigail has always loved the stadium atmosphere complete with jock jams and “yummy treats.” One such tasty treat she sees as a staple beverage for a good time is the slushie. With that in mind, she set forth to create a retro slushie design for her hat that honored the IceHogs. IceHogs fans received Abigail's hat on Nov. 29, 2024.
Kayo Martinez
Kayo Martinez is a self-taught artist who grew up in Rockford. Starting from childhood, he began drawing by copying illustrations from comic books, cartoon shows and skate magazines. In his twenties he began dabbling with acrylic paints on canvas as well as other mediums like spray paint and mural work. He went on to get his degree in Graphic Design and has more recently started dabbling in the world of 3D sculpting with most of his artistic time dedicated to creating his own designer toys. Professionally, he works as a freelancer, relying on social media and word-of-mouth to land freelance jobs. For his IceHogs hat design, Kayo decided to deconstruct Hammy into a typography font style by taking elements from the current IceHogs logo and Hammy to spell out IceHogs. As fans look deeper at the design, they should be able to start picking out familiar pieces in each letter to see various parts of Hammy and the IceHogs logo hidden in plain sight. IceHogs fans received Kayo's hat on March 8, 2025.
Chris Geebus
Chris Geebus is a self-taught artist who grew up in Rockford surrounded by a very creative family, including his artistic parents and grandmother who herself was a self-taught artist. Chris grew into a professional artist over many years of trial and error, starting by creating pieces live at local fairs and festivals. He later began to curate his own music and art shows in Rockford and soon after self-published his own comic books and began traveling the country combining his love for comics, artwork, and music at various conventions. It all led to his eventual work with murals. Chris now has multiple published comic books, as well as murals that can be found in places like Target and Goodwill. His hat design was inspired by an old folktale he heard about Rockford when he was young. As the tale went, before the bridge over the Rock River was built, they used to have to cross by using rope-pulled ferry boats. One year the winter weather came early so the farmers that needed to cross were rushing to get their livestock across before the river froze. During that process, a pig farmer’s ferry ride didn’t go as planned and his whole ferry of hogs tipped over. The hogs that didn’t make shore were found frozen. This was the event that led to the first bridge in Rockford being built. IceHogs fans received Chris' hat on April 18, 2025.
2025-26 Artist Hat Series Winners
Greg Lang
Fueled by decaf coffee and unwavering dedication, Greg Lang is a Rockford artist whose passion for drawing and skateboarding led him on his journey to the world of graphic design. Following a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 2001 from Minneapolis College of Art and Design, he returned to Rockford and expanded his repertoire to encompass printmaking. Through his thought-provoking creations, Greg aims to bridge the gap between art and design, challenging societal norms and igniting the imagination. His works often evoke a sense of nostalgia and an appreciation for the intricacies of fine details. As a member of the art collective Fatherless, Greg remains active in the local art scene, while collaborating with artists and participating in exhibitions around the globe. When it came time to design a hat for the IceHogs, Greg chose to explore the look and feel of a ransom note using mismatched typography. IceHogs fans received Greg's hat on Nov. 28, 2025.
Lissette Tellado
Lissette Tellado has been an artist ever since she first picked up a pencil. Primarily self-taught in her early years, Lissette went on to earn a bachelor's degree illustration from Northern Illinois University. As a young artist, the first medium Lissette explored was graphite pencil before moving into acrylic paint. Through the years, she has continued to explore more mediums and styles, often letting her mood dictate what type of art she will work on from day to day. Throughout middle school and high school, she helped create playbills, shirts and posters for musicals such as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Big” and has had her work exhibited at Octane, Rockford Art Museum, Rock Valley College, Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago, Jack Olsen Gallery at NIU, and Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin. Her IceHogs hat design was inspired by Walt Disney’s 1928 animated short film “Steamboat Willie.” IceHogs fans received Lissette's's hat on Jan. 23, 2026.
Liz Wolf
The arts have always been a part of Liz Wolf’s life from early childhood through her education at Boylan High School and through postsecondary education that included earning a B.F.A. in painting from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a M.F.A. in interdisciplinary book and paper arts from Columbia College-Chicago. After graduate school, she worked for almost nine years at Northwestern University Block Museum of Art as an art teacher for quarterly courses at the Northwestern Student Center. After 16 years in Chicago, Liz moved back to Rockford in 2020 with her husband and two young daughters and began teaching in the art department at Boylan High School in 2024. She taught a print making unit at Boylan with the main project for the class based on Andy Warhol and took inspiration from the Warhol unit in her class when it came time to create a hat design for the IceHogs Local Artists Hat Series. IceHogs fans received Liz's hat on Feb. 28, 2026.
