Goalie mask for Chicago's NHL team designed by Indigenous artist from Red Lake, Ont.

Imagine seeing your art in mainstream places such as the NHL.For artist and graphic designer Patrick Hunter, it's a reality and it's happened to him twice.

Hunter, anOjibwayartistfrom Red Lake who's currently based in Toronto, collaborated with Chicagoearlier this year on the team's land acknowledgment, which is played at the beginning of every game.

Now, Hunter has designeda hockey mask for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury,who wore it in a recent game against Pittsburgh Penguinsfor Native American Heritage Month in the United States.

Hunter said he chose the design ofOjibway florals layered over a black base top as a unifying image thatrepresents the Indigenous cultures on the Great Lakes.

Theseven feathers at the top representthe seven Grandfather Teachings.

"My wife's family is of Abenaki and Mi'kmaqdescent, and I wanted to do something special to recognize and celebrate Native American Heritage Month," Fleuryis quoted as saying in a blog post on Chicago'swebsite. "I was lucky enough to work withNative artist Patrick Hunter on a special-edition mask, and I love his design, especially the inclusion of the flowers and feathers."

Hunter first worked with the Chicago organization in February, when he designed the artwork for the land acknowledgment that plays before each home game. A few months later, the teamreached out again, requesting that he design a mask for Fleury.

"It's kind of like a continuation of the land acknowledgment artwork," Hunter said.

Hunter said he accepted the first call "with a lot of trepidation" given that Chicago's logo isn'tseen by many as apositive onefor Indigenous people.

'Conversations with artwork'

Still, after the call, Hunter saw "a lot of integrity," and he trusts the organization'splans to reconcile with the logo going forward.

"I thought that was a cool opportunity to help them with understanding that this is a long process, and they have a lot of fans to try and educate on First Nations issues, and then also educating them on why it was wrong in the first place," said Hunter.

"That's the kind of path that they're on," he said."If I could help them through starting conversations with artwork, I thought that would be a good fit."

But Chicago hasalso been the subject of a reckoning after an independent investigator found top team officials ignored allegations ofsexual assault by a former player against a former assistant coach.

The NHL fined Chicago$2 million US for "the organizations' inadequate internal procedures, and insufficient and untimely response" to the allegations Kyle Beach made to the team in 2010.

It rocked the hockey world, andHunter only learned about it through news reports like everyone else.

Hunter saidhe still wants to continue working with the team because it is actively trying to reconcile, and "you don't just leave people in the dark."

The artist saidit's still a surreal experience seeing his work in both the land acknowledgment and on Fleury, but he stays humble about it.

As for the future of another collaboration withthe NHL team, he's open to it, as a way to bring even more Indigenous artwork into the mainstream.