Crown jewel: How cowboy hats became a Fort Worth icon

Crown jewel: How cowboy hats became a Fort Worth icon

Published on September 02, 2025

Blake Moorman is a native Fort Worthian proud of his Cowtown roots. So, when the call for entries was announced, he jumped at the chance to (quite literally) throw his hat in the ring.

It's worth noting that the "ring" wasn't a thing (yet), but Moorman, along with many others, wanted to be a part of it.

Cowboys and culture on full display

"Intimate Apparel & Pearl Earrings" was the first of two public artworks the City of Fort Worth commissioned through the Fort Worth Public Art Program, said Jenny Conn, public art collection manager with Arts Fort Worth. Arts Fort Worth, formerly known as the Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, has managed the Fort Worth Public Art program on the City's behalf since 2003.

Planned for public display in the Fort Worth Convention Center's Houston Street Lobby, the commissioned design featured a suspended steel frame affixed with over 400 new and used cowboy hats.

Conceived by celebrated American sculptor Donald Lipski, the piece embodied the perfect fusion of cowboys and culture. A mix of old guard meets avant garde, it was Fort Worth writ large.

Following a national artist selection process, the Fort Worth Art Commission recommended Lipski to create the star-shaped centerpiece.

Getting the party started

Multiple hat collection parties began in earnest, which is when Moorman joined the narrative.

"I've always been an arts person and always followed what's going on in the Fort Worth arts community," said Moorman, director of sales and marketing at the Fort Worth Convention Center since 2020 and also an Arts Fort Worth board member. "The Art Commission did a call to the public to bring in hats. And I thought, hey, I grew up in Fort Worth; I have a cowboy hat or two!"

He was excited to donate his selected hat, but with so many being collected, Moorman wasn't sure if his would make the cut.

"In case they did put it up, I wanted to identify it," he said. Moorman affixed four community icons on it representing important parts of his life to make it stand out. "One was TCU, one was the name of my fraternity (Alpha Phi Alpha), one was Jubilee Theater because that was a very important part of my life and the fourth was UTA," he said.

Not only was it selected, but Moorman's hat just so happened to be placed in the perfect spot. "Right under the star," he said. "It's such a proud moment to point out the hat to people."

Hidden details

Besides Moorman, others who signed over their Stetsons included Govs. Rick Perry and Jeb Bush, President George H. Bush, Kinky Friedman, movie legend Chill Wills and Garlene Tindell Parris, a trick-roping rodeo star in 1936 who contributed three hats and rounded up countless more from kindred and compadres across Texas.

"Lipski rewarded her tireless efforts in securing many donations by scrambling the letters of her name to create the title of the artwork, Intimate Apparel and Pearl Earrings," Conn said.

The final installation is an impressive 28-foot-wide, 7-foot-deep structure. It hangs suspended by a cable that slowly rotates via the power of the building's HVAC system.

The piece also holds surprises. Look closely and you'll spot a single delicately rendered bronze sombrero, Conn notes. One of the hats has a smiley face folded into the crown, said Andra Bennett, communications coordinator for the City's Public Events Department.

Hats with heart

The piece is wildly popular with Convention Center crowds and widely photographed as well. "It's memorialized internationally in selfies from guests from all over the world," Conn said.

For Blake Moorman, the sculpture never ceases to make him smile.

"It's always been a fun piece," he said. But the hat he donated also has a connection that he holds dear.

"It was a special hat," Moorman said, "bought by my dad and stepmom from Ryon's [Western Store] on the Northside when I was in high school at Trimble Tech."

To learn more about Intimate Apparel & Pearl Earrings and other works in the Fort Worth Public Art Program collection, visit FWPA's website.

Photo: City employee Blake Moorman stands beneath the iconic sculpture in the Houston Street lobby of the Fort Worth Convention Center.

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