WEST HARTFORD – It’s become a showcase for athletic shoes, now its third year, the NFL is holding the My Cause, My Cleats campaign.
This season, over three weekends of games, players are wearing custom cleats that promote a charity near and dear to them. Once again, West Hartford artist Corey Pane is putting his personal touch on the decorative cleats that some of the players are wearing. “My Cause, My Cleats just raises awareness for all different types of organizations and foundations,” Pane said.
Pane, 28, does all types of artwork but it is the painted cleats that has brought him some amount of notoriety. “I treat this as I would a canvas or a painting, but I just try to transfer it onto a shoe,” Pane said.
Pane was busy putting the final touches on a pair of cleats for Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Receiver Antonio Brown, a frequent client, which will be worn in pregame versus the Raiders this Sunday to promote Brown’s “Live your Vision” charity.
Pane currently creates custom painted cleats for about a half dozen NFL stars and also created cleats for University of Hartford standout pitcher and current Atlanta Braves star Sean Newcomb. Finishing up a shoe with a can of spray paint Pane added, “I love to inspire people through whatever type of art but if the cleats are something that can reach people, that’s amazing.”
You can see more of local artist Corey Pane’s works on Instagram at @coreypaneart