February 2025: Celebration of Black History Campaign

In alignment with the Sharks Foundation’s Celebration of Black History campaign, the Sharks Foundation provided a $30,000 Community Assist Grant to Local Color.

Local Color is a women-powered non-profit rooted in San Jose with the mission to build equitable pathways for creatives to thrive. Local Color meets their mission through the commission and facilitation of public and private art, the establishment of affordable and creative workspaces, management of artist-led workshops, and providing fiscal sponsorship for independent artists, cultural workers, and community organizers. With a portion of the funding from the Foundation, Local Color commissioned seven local Black artists to design and paint mini hockey helmets based on concepts provided by current and former Sharks players.

On Friday, January 24, the players were able to see their visions come to life when the artists attended practice at Sharks Ice to watch the team and then present their finalized pieces of art to each player. The custom, one-of-a-kind mini helmets were signed by both the artist and the featured Sharks player for the Sharks Foundation’s online auction that took place from February 6-9.

On Saturday, February 8, during the Sharks Celebration of Black History game, the mini helmets were on display in tandem with each of the artists’ bios at the Sharks Foundation Booth on the Concourse to bring more exposure to the artists and their talents. Additionally, the artists and representatives from Local Color were hosted in a Penthouse Suite at SAP Center and highlighted on the scoreboard during the 2^nd period.