Some sports fans plaster their man cave walls with photographs of their heroes. Ben Erickson takes it a step further — he paints portraits of his favorite sports and music stars and hangs them on the walls of his office. And, they are autographed.
Erickson, 31, is equal parts artist and detective and has a quiet determination that has led to a successful hobby. It’s one thing to paint a sports legend; it’s quite another to get them to put their name on it.
Autographed paintings of Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Aaron Judge measuring 16 inches by 20 inches, are all prominently displayed on the man cave wall in his office at Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he has worked as a graphic designer since February 2021.
The autographed painting of Biles will be part of more than 40 works that Erickson will display on Sept. 17-18 at “Chasing Stars: Faces in Art,” a free pop-up art show that will be held in his hometown of Neenah, Wisconsin.
Erickson’s first art show will feature sports figures, actors and comedians he has painted through the years. Erickson does not sell his portraits of athletes, but he is certainly open to commission work.
“I am leaving business cards there (at the show),” he said.
Erickson’s two favorite paintings depict two Olympic gold medalists: Biles and Phelps.
He got Biles to sign his painting of the gymnastics champion in December 2023 at Green Bay’s Austin Straubel International Airport. Erickson knew that the seven-time Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics flew from Texas every week to Wisconsin to watch her husband, safety Jonathan Owens, who at the time was playing for the Green Bay Packers.
Last Dec. 3, the Packers were hosting the Kansas City Chiefs in a Sunday night game at Lambeau Field. On the day of the game, Erickson went to the airport and walked up to Biles after her flight landed.
“I was fast enough. She was alone, she didn’t have an entourage or anything,” Erickson said. “I approached her, showed her the painting and told her that I had spent numerous hours painting this.
“She thought that was pretty cool, so she signed it.”
Then Erickson took his request one step further, asking if she would pose with him and the painting. And again, Biles obliged.
“It’s stories like that — and I can take hours telling you all of them — about this art,” Erickson said. “Every one of them has a unique story.
“And that’s the fun part for me.”
Erickson earned a bachelor’s degree in art and graphic design in 2015 from St. Norbert College. He said he began drawing and painting at an early age.
“I was lucky to have teachers who encouraged me and also pushed me to be better,” he said. “The more you do something, the better you become at it.”
He certainly impressed one of his high school art teachers.
Henry Van Damme said in a 2017 interview that Erickson was a leader in the classroom and “went way over and above the expectations.”
“He always had a great interest in sports, and he took that interest and his passion for art and merged them,” Van Damme said. “It’s really taken off. His work has been just incredible.”
The first of the nearly 200 paintings Erickson created featured Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. That was in 2011, when he was a senior and three-sport athlete at Neenah High School. The first athlete to sign one of his paintings was Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson later that year.
The Vikings (2-6) were preparing to play the unbeaten (8-0) Packers in a nationally televised Monday night game at Lambeau Field on Nov. 14 and normally would stay at a Radisson Hotel in Appleton, Erickson recalled. But logistics prevented the Vikings from staying there and instead the team lodged at a Holiday Inn in Neenah.
That gave Erickson his chance, and he made the most of it, getting an autograph from the star running back at the hotel.
Peterson’s 3-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter of the game was the Vikings’ only score in a 45-7 drubbing by the Packers. But Erickson had been inspired by his own success.
“It (painting) took off after that,” Erickson said.
Erickson’s paintings cover a broad spectrum of sports, except for hockey. But star sports players he has painted include Brett Favre, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Steph Curry, Aaron Rodgers, John Daly, Kevin Durant, Drew Brees, Jordan Love, Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun. Musicians include his favorite singer, Post Malone, along with Luke Combs. He also counts Jerry Seinfeld among the comedians/actors he has painted.
Erickson has a story for each one.
He got Daly to sign this year at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, where the two-time major champion was playing in a Seniors tour pro-am. He had some unexpected help from a woman who turned out to be the golfer’s longtime girlfriend, Anna Cladakis.
“I waited for him at the driving range,” Erickson said. “He never showed up. I went to the tee box and he was sitting there in his golf cart. I followed him for several holes.”
Erickson noticed that a woman had been dropped off in a golf cart and was also following Daly. She chatted with him after the round ended and then walked toward Daly. She returned to Erickson and his father and asked about the painting.”
“She asked, ‘Where’s this painting going?’ and I told her ‘I’ve got a man cave.’ She said, ‘I’ll get it signed.’”
It had been raining at the end of the round, but Cladakis took the painting — holding it face down so it would not get wet — and brought it to Daly.
“She walked to him in the rain, and he took his towel and dried off the painting before signing it,” Erickson said.
Daly signed it, “To Ben, Grip it and rip it.”
“That’s what makes the hobby worth it,” Erickson said.
Erickson said most stars are happy to sign his artwork, especially after he explains the piece is for his personal collection. Still, several stars personalized it, knowing that if it went to auction it would not be worth as much.
“It works in my favor,” Erickson said. “Some athletes don’t appreciate it when people sell their autographs (on eBay) and they don’t get anything in return.
“I try to explain to them that it’s for my wall.”
Erickson said he has been rebuffed several times when he tried to get a painting signed, but he never takes it personally.
“They don’t flat out say no, they say they have a meeting, or practice or have somewhere they have to be at,” he said. “Or they say, later, but after they say it a few times you kind of get the hint.”
Erickson was able to get Judge’s autograph before a Yankees-Brewers game at Milwaukee’s American Family Field.
If the Yankee slugger’s signature appears small, there is a good reason.
“After the national anthem there is a three-minute window for them to sign by the dugout,” Erickson said. “In previous years I was able to slide the painting across the top of the dugout, but in this case there was that protective netting.
“So I held my painting against the netting and he signed it through a hole in the netting.”
Phelps took more persistence from Erickson. Two years ago, the 23-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming was playing in a pro-am golf tournament in Madison.
“He was on the practice green,” Erickson said. “I was able to get close enough to him, and he said, ‘I really like the painting. I really like the goggles,’” which were painted in gold.
“He didn’t sign. ‘I’ll get you later,” Erickson said. “I followed him around and he kept seeing me.
“Finally he said, ‘All right, I’ll do it.’ You almost have to be persistent.”
Erickson said that autographs from stars like LeBron James would be difficult to obtain because of deals they might have with card companies. But he did manage to score an autograph from his favorite singer, although it was not on a painting.
When Post Malone appeared in concert in July 2023 at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy — a suburb of Milwaukee — Erickson was ready.
“I bought tickets in the pit. I knew that signs could not be larger than 8-by-10, so a painting just wouldn’t do,” Erickson said. “So I had the painting printed on a sweatshirt.”
Erickson wore one shirt and had some extras.
“After the show, he saw my shirt and said he liked it,” Erickson said. “I gave him one as a gift.”
Malone signed one of the sweatshirts.
“I have the painting unsigned but I have the sweatshirt next to it,” Erickson said.
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Erickson grew up in Neenah, a city of approximately 24,000 residents located 46 miles southwest of Green Bay and about 100 miles north-northeast of Milwaukee. Millions of Americans are exposed to Neenah on a daily basis; Neenah Enterprises, Inc., manufactures cast iron manhole covers and frames that are placed on streets across the country.
“We are famous for manhole covers,” Erickson said. “If you look at a manhole cover in your city, there’s a good chance that ‘Neenah Foundry’ is written on it.”
Erickson played volleyball, basketball and baseball at Neenah High School. He was a libero for the boys volleyball team, playing the sport to keep in shape for basketball, where he was a guard for the Rockets. As a junior, he was part of the basketball squad that went to the state tournament. Playing left field for the baseball team, Erickson was part of the 20-9 squad that Jim Piepenbreink took to the state championship game in 2011.
But art has been Erickson’s greatest love.
“Art has been my passion and I can’t imagine a world without great design,” Erickson writes on his website.
Erickson said he had not been approached by any of the major card companies to do any artwork, but he was excited by the prospect, even offering his business card.
“I haven’t been approached but that would be kind of cool,” said Erickson, who collected cards as a youth — naturally, of the Wisconsin-based major squads, concentrating on the Packers, Brewers and Bucks, along with the Badgers of the University of Wisconsin.
“If you know of anyone, let me know.”
OK, card companies. You’ve been put on notice.
“Please contact me if you are looking for great designs,” Erickson wrote on his website.
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