The Buffalo Sabres have announced a partnership with the Buffalo AKG Art Museum to launch the “Community Artist Series” for the 2025-26 NHL season. The initiative will feature original designs by three artists, each representing a specific community theme night: Native American Heritage Night on November 17, Pride Night on January 6, and Black History Celebration on January 29.
Each artist was selected by Aaron Ott, curator of public art at the AKG, who has led more than 40 public art projects since joining the museum in 2013. The artists chosen for this inaugural series are G. Peter Jemison for Native American Heritage Night, Adam Weekley for Pride Night, and George Hughes for Black History Celebration.
The unique designs created by these artists will be displayed on Sabres practice jerseys during their respective nights at KeyBank Center. These jerseys will later be auctioned off, with proceeds going directly to benefit the communities being honored.
Sabres vice president of marketing Cara Murphy commented on the collaboration: “The Sabres and AKG are linked both through the contributions of our founders, the Knox family, and our passion for Buffalo. We are thrilled for the opportunity to use art and hockey as vehicles to celebrate and spotlight our communities here in Western New York.”
Aaron Ott expressed enthusiasm about bringing attention to local artists through this partnership: “I like the idea of others beyond the Western New York region recognizing that the Sabres are going big on this. This is not a casual commitment. These are legendary artists. And the way we treat our legendary players as sports fans, we at the AKG have a commitment to legendary artists. To me, those are the icons that we want to push together.”
The Community Artist Series aims to connect art and sport while supporting diverse communities in Western New York.
