IceHogs and Rockford Area Arts Council Announce Local Artists Hat Series Winners for 2024-25 Season

The Rockford IceHogs and Rockford Area Arts Council are proud to bring back the Local Artists Hat Series, presented by BMO, for an encore after a very successful debut last season.

A call to local artists went out over the summer seeking unique designs for an IceHogs hat for three giveaway games for the 2024-25 season. Over 30 local artists submitted hat designs this year and a selection committee made up of IceHogs and Rockford Area Arts Council staff, as well as local artists, has selected the three winning artists and their designs for this season’s hat series: Abigail Pixler, Kayo Martinez, and Chris Geebus. Each artist will have their hat produced and handed out to the first 1,500 fans at a select IceHogs game.

Abigail Pixler is an artist based in Loves Park. While she earned a BFA in Graphic Design, Abigail discovered her love for painting about seven years ago. 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 honors the IceHogs.

“Who wouldn't want to watch a battle on the ice while sipping on some ice?” said Abigail. “I remember attending the very first opening night for the IceHogs as a twelve-year old, thinking it was the coolest thing ever that Rockford had a hockey team they could call their own. Never in a million years would I have guessed that decades later I would have designed something for my hometown team. It is such an honor to be able to pair my love of art with hockey.”

The first 1,500 fans will receive Abigail’s designed hat on Black Friday, Nov. 29.

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 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.

“What an amazing feeling to be able to say I got to design a piece for Rockford IceHogs fans to wear”, said Kayo. “I am so grateful and excited for this opportunity, and I appreciate everyone involved.”

The first 1,500 fans will receive Kayo’s designed hat on Saturday, March 8 on Salute to the Arts Night.

Chris Geebus is also 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.

“So, all I could picture in my head [after hearing that tale] were ice cube hogs”, said Chris. “I’m extremely proud to be a part of this series. It has been a bucket list objective of mine to leave something at home for my family to be proud of.”

The first 1,500 fans will receive Chris’s folktale-inspired hat on Friday, April 18, the final home game of the IceHogs 2024-25 regular season.

The Local Artists Hat Series made its debut last season as an effort to support the Rockford artist community and give artists a platform to showcase their work, style, and creativity, while engaging with the community’s passion for the IceHogs.

“We are surrounded by so many talented artists in our community and that is evident by the all the work that the Rockford Area Arts Council has done to beautify our city”, said Mike Peck, IceHogs VP of Marketing, Content & Operations. “We are grateful to be able to showcase three talented artists through these IceHogs hats and bring a piece of that art scene into the BMO Center and to our fans once again this season.”

“The Arts Council is thrilled to collaborate for a second season with the IceHogs, celebrating and elevating the work of local artists and increasing enjoyment for the fans”, said Mary McNamara Bernsten, Rockford Area Arts Council, Executive Director. “The IceHogs are an enthusiastic and creative partner, committed to the Rockford community. The more we can intersect the creative community with our corporate community, the healthier, and more attractive our community will be to our residents, visitors, and those looking to relocate in the Rockford region.”

All three Local Artists Hat Series nights are presented by BMO Bank with media partners WTVO and Fox 39.

Learn more about the Local Artists Hat Series and this year’s three winning artists at IceHogs.com/artisthatseries.