San Francisco 49ers fans in Portugal adding to Super Bowl excitement with art collab
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) - Fan art for the San Francisco 49ers comes in all sizes and can be consumed in multiple mediums locally and globally. A collaboration for the team's appearance in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday tries to celebrate all of that by bringing together a foreign artist with local businesses.
"I really love football. I love American Football more than our football here in Portugal," said Rita Carvalho in a remote video interview.
She and her boyfriend were born and raised in Portugal. They didn't know much about American sports but over a decade ago he discovered the U.S. version of football. The first game he saw was a matchup including the 49ers. Years later, he would meet Carvalho, telling her about the sport and the team.
"I think the organization itself is just different, we, as an outsider, can feel like they're family," Carvalho told KPIX.
He introduced her to Jimmy Garoppolo as a way to get her excited about the sport.
As an illustrator, she started to draw art featuring him with the support of her boyfriend and posted it online. The drawings found a large audience, and today she has thousands of followers on Instagram.
A fan herself for three years now, she decided to start a new art campaign to draw a new image each day the Niners were not in the Super Bowl.
"The dynamics of that team and the excitement in the Bay Area just really forged a fandom in me and that's only grown stronger over the years," said Chef Telmo Faria, owner of Uma Casa.
Faria partnered with Carvalho and Gold Bar Whiskey on a collaboration that brings all three together. If customers buy their special 49ers-themed cocktail at his Portuguese restaurant, which features the San Francisco brand of whiskey, they will receive a print of a special Niners drawing Carvalho made that includes multiple players, the restaurant, and the spirit.
"Tying in San Francisco and Portugal is really exciting it feels really special," Faria told KPIX.
His restaurant has served the cuisine of his heritage for seven years now in the Noe Valley neighborhood. While he spent part of his childhood in Portugal, he was born in the U.S. and considers the South Bay where he grew up home
This Super Bowl run has presented him, a veteran of the hospitality industry, a chance to tap into the love of the Niners and welcome in new customers.
"I'm not just sharing my love for the Niners, I'm also sharing my culture and my country, where I came from," Carvalho said of the collaboration.
Her boyfriend and her have made a trip to the Bay Area to see a game. They hope to come back again for game they say is unlike anything they can create back home.
"It was a dream come true, 'cause we always, like here in Portugal we see the games through TV, and we didn't get to experience the environment, and just share it with people who love it as much as we do," she said about Levi's Stadium.
