The Florida Panthers have signed Wayne Gretzky, Martina Navratilova, Michael Bubl\u00e9, Dustin Johnson, and the Miami Heat for a unique project<\/p>\n
MIAMI — For their latest project, the Florida Panthers signed Wayne Gretzky, Martina Navratilova, Michael Bubl\u00e9, Dustin Johnson and the Miami Heat.<\/p>\n
And they were armed with paintbrushes, not hockey sticks.<\/p>\n
The Panthers \u2014 a few hours before their Winter Classic outdoor game at the Miami Marlins’ ballpark against the New York Rangers \u2014 unveiled a couple dozen panther sculptures, all painted in a unique way and now being auctioned off<\/a> with hopes of raising $1 million for cancer research.<\/p>\n Gretzky commissioned a sculpture that displays some of his stats, Johnson arranged one depicting a scene from Augusta National, Bubl\u00e9’s is adorned in rhinestone braille, the NBA’s Heat commissioned a pair of sculptures with some of the team’s themes, artist Romero Britto painted one as well and Navratilova didn’t technically paint hers \u2014 she dipped tennis balls into paint and then served them into the panther, creating a polka-dotted splash of various colors.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to have the privilege to reach out and make those contacts and have those folks say, \u2018Of course,\u2019 what a gift that was,\u201d Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito said. \u201cIt’s just so neat.\u201d<\/p>\n About $700,000 has been raised already, Zito said. The idea for the fundraiser \u2014 \u201cPanthers on the Prowl,\u201d they call it \u2014 is loosely built around Chicago’s \u201cCows on Parade\u201d art project. Zito and his wife Julie co-chair the Panthers’ project; she is a breast cancer survivor, and Zito has lost a number of relatives to the disease.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my wife Julie’s idea,\u201d Zito said. \u201cAnd we lived in Chicago during \u2018Cows on Parade,\u2019 and then Romero Britto said we should auction them. I can’t take credit for any of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the panthers were on display at LoanDepot Park on Friday, where about 35,000 fans attending the Winter Classic would see them.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s a tear and a smile,\u201d Zito said. \u201cAnd then you think, you know what, there\u2019s a reason that everybody is engaged. There\u2019s a reason that everybody gave their time and their talent. And it\u2019s because it works and it\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n