WRIGLEYVILLE — Growing up as a second-generation Filipino American in Chicago, Louis De Guzman had a hard time finding his place.

De Guzman’s parents immigrated to America when they were in their early 20s. They spoke little English and made every big life decision with their kids in mind, De Guzman said. As his parents acclimated to life in a new city, De Guzman struggled to find his identity.

“I didn’t really understand my heritage growing up,” De Guzman said. “Was I Filipino? Was I American? Asian American? I wasn’t like everyone else — and I was treated differently because of it.”

Unexpectedly, De Guzman found community in a baseball hat. Sports gear became a kind of shorthand, a way to connect with classmates and the culture around him.

“Growing up, sports were how my family connected with Chicago culture,” De Guzman said. “We didn’t always understand the language or the customs, but sports made us feel involved. Having a Cubs hat, a Cubs jersey, even a Cubs pencil in school, people automatically spoke to you.

“That connection, that camaraderie. That feeling that we’re in something together — that’s what sports represent to me.”

Now, decades after discovering the Chicago Cubs logo as a symbol of belonging, De Guzman and other local artists are giving the next generation of fans something to connect to.

As part of the Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season, the team put a new spin on its heritage celebrations by pairing five cultural events with five special-edition jerseys, each designed by a local artist whose heritage reflects the community being honored.

The five jerseys in the series honor Mexican American Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month, Puerto Rican Heritage Month and Greek Heritage Month.

These aren’t uniforms worn on the field but promotional jerseys available through Special Ticket Offers tied to select games throughout the season.

It’s the first time the Cubs have collaborated with local artists on jersey giveaways — moving beyond the hats and other items offered in previous years to something more visually expressive and community-rooted, said Jen Martindale, executive vice president of marketing and communications for the Cubs.

For the Cubs, it’s a way to celebrate the diversity of the city’s neighborhoods and fan base by spotlighting artists who live and work in Chicago and have contributed to the cultural fabric of the city in meaningful ways.

“We’re proud to partner with these local Chicago artists to put their unique artistic spin on five souvenir jerseys this season,” Martindale said. “This year’s Mexican heritage jersey is the most successful Special Ticket Offer in club history, which shows the true power and reach of these artists and the connection they have to the local community.”

The jerseys are available as part of special ticket offerings on certain heritage night celebrations at Wrigley Field. They will not be worn on the field.

To bring those designs to life, the Cubs tapped five Chicago-based artists with deep ties to the city and their respective communities.

Sentrock, a muralist and street artist known for his bold characters and vibrant color palettes, designed the jersey for Mexican American Heritage Night. His work often explores identity, resilience and the spirit of migration through the lens of Mexican culture.

Liz Flores, a painter and muralist whose work explores themes of womanhood and Latinidad, created the design for Hispanic Heritage Night. Her jersey blends traditional folk motifs and layered landscapes into a vibrant, inclusive reflection of the broader Latin American diaspora.

De Guzman, a Filipino American visual artist who blends abstract forms with cultural symbolism, designed the jersey for Asian American and Pacific Islande Heritage Month. His jersey design incorporates deconstructed shapes, nods to Asian immigrant history and his signature style, which has earned him collaborations with global brands such as New Balance and the Chicago Bulls.

Also featured in the series are Cristian J. Roldán Aponte, a Puerto Rican visual artist and educator based in Humboldt Park, and Theodora Pavlou, a Greek American painter and educator based in Ravenswood.

“Being a part of this felt bigger than just a franchise,” Sentrock said. “It’s about the city of Chicago and the community coming together to celebrate our heritage.”

Paying Homage

For his jersey design, Sentrock drew inspiration from one of the most stylish Mexican athletes: Jorge Campos, a legendary 1990s goalkeeper known for his acrobatic saves, flamboyant personality and wildly colorful uniforms, which became iconic in soccer and pop culture.

“He was only about 5-foot-6, but a beast on the field,” Sentrock said. “And he wore the dopest, most colorful jerseys. That inspired me to incorporate bold design while still reflecting our cultural roots.”

Throughout the jersey, patterns nod to the Indigenous roots of Mexican culture, with “Chicago” on the back spelled with an “x” as a tribute to Indigenous Mexican language.

“It pays homage to Mexican immigrants and the beauty in that movement,” Sentrock said. “I also added a couple of roses, symbolizing growth and a flourishing community, especially during times when it can be hard to feel celebrated.”

Liz Flores, who is Mexican and Cuban, wanted to create something that felt personal and expansive enough to represent the wide range of identities celebrated during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Flores, who was born and raised in suburban Berwyn and is now based in Chicago, didn’t attend art school and didn’t grow up imagining a career in the arts. But she was always drawing — sketches of people, comic book characters, anything that helped her understand the world around her.

After college, Flores started to paint, first with more muted colors and later with the vibrant ones she was surrounded by at home. Her work today is influenced more by contemporary artists — people like Anna Leovi, Grace Weaver and Chicago-based artist Celeste Rapone.

“I think a lot of it came from growing up in a Latino household full of color,” Flores said. “Pottery from Mexico, jewel tones, warm terracotta — that all seeped into my work over time.”

For her jersey, Flores leaned into her cultural and artistic background but approached the project with a sense of responsibility.

“It wasn’t just about me,” she said. “It was about representing a large, diverse community. That was daunting.”

Flores started by researching patterns, shapes and symbols that would feel familiar across cultures, pulling from folk motifs seen throughout Latin America.

The red geometric elements on the front and sleeves evoke the intricate embroidery found in traditional garments, while the birds, faces and plants reflect the deep roots of craft and storytelling in Latino art, Flores said.

Flores included a mix of topographies — desert flora and lush green leaves — and incorporated ivy throughout the design as a nod to Wrigley Field.

Color was one of the biggest challenges. To avoid centering any one heritage, she used the classic Cubs blue and left space for fans to personalize it with flag patches.

“I hope people see themselves in it,” Flores said. “Whether they’re Mexican, Cuban, Dominican, Colombian — whatever their background is — I wanted the design to feel like it could belong to them.”

When designing his jersey, De Guzman wanted to create something that felt bold, abstract and unmistakably his.

“For this jersey, I wanted to filter it through my lens,” he said. “The disruptor shapes, the fragments of imagination, the chaotic energy you don’t always see around you.”

De Guzman approached the jersey with the same ethos that guides his studio practice: staying open, re-engaging with his own creative energy each day and designing from a place of curiosity.

That carried over into how he thought about the symbolism of the jersey itself — what it means to wear one, to step onto a field as part of a team.

For De Guzman, that moment represents vulnerability and unity: the shedding of the individual ego in service of something collective. The design reflects that sense of togetherness.

On the sleeves, De Guzman incorporated graphic elements like the Cubby Bear, pulled from his earlier sculpture work with the Cubs and filtered through the layered, fragmented aesthetic that defines his visual style.

Though the jersey was created in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, De Guzman approached the project with inclusion at its core.

“Art is meant to connect the world, not to disconnect it,” he said. “My mother always told me, ‘Treat people with respect. We all belong.’”

‘This One Crossed Over’

Based on jersey sales, the artists’ work is being well received.

Sentrock’s Mexican heritage jersey, the first one to be released, sold out in February. So did Roldán Aponte’s Puerto Rican jersey.

“My work usually resonates more with a younger, artsy crowd,” Sentrock said. “This one crossed over. I’ve heard from so many older Mexican Americans that they are excited about the game, about feeling celebrated by a team they love.”

Earlier this month, Sentrock threw out the first pitch as the team celebrated Mexican Heritage Night at Wrigley Field. The crowd was full of fans in Sentrock’s jersey, a moment he described as surreal.

“It’s bigger than me,” Sentrock said. “Seeing hundreds of people wearing a jersey I designed, even if they don’t know who I am, is beautiful. They’re putting something on that lets them feel pride and joy.”

The Cubs will celebrate Puerto Rican heritage May 27, Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage May 28, Greek heritage Aug. 20 and Hispanic and Latino heritage Sept. 25.

Through his art, De Guzman eventually found his place.

He also found his voice as an artist, and he plans to use it to help the next generation find theirs.

“I want everyone who puts on this jersey to see themselves in it,” he said.