These Two Hawkeye Women’s Basketball Devotees Dominate the Paint

PHOTO: HEIKE C. O’DAY PHOTOGRAPHY Wisconsin couple Dale Kuklinski and Suzy Grimm paint their faces and spend hours on the road to cheer on the Hawkeyes and Fever.

Athletes have their pregame rituals, but so do superfans. For Suzy Grimm (90MD) and her husband, Dale Kuklinski, their game day routine starts with a brush, paint, and the right game face.

While Caitlin Clark (24BBA) now refers to the couple as “the face paint people,” Grimm first started painting her face for Packer football games 25 years ago. The game-day tradition slowly transitioned over into Hawkeye football and basketball games, with her late father, Louis Grimm (1924BSC), being a season ticket holder. Raised in Stanwood, Iowa, Suzy Grimm says, “I’ve been a Hawkeye since birth.”

A self-taught face painter, Grimm has only improved her skills over the years. While she started with simply painting both halves of her face in school colors, Grimm has advanced to complex designs such as the Iowa “I” and Hawkeye talon marks. At first, Kuklinski wasn’t a fan of the paint; however, when Clark led the Hawkeye women’s basketball team to their second trip to the Final Four in 2024, he decided to join in. Once he realized the joy the paint brought people, Kuklinski says, “There was no stopping it.”

PHOTO: HEIKE C. O’DAY PHOTOGRAPHY Kuklinski and Grimm show off their Hawkeye-signed basketball and shoes.

Enchanted with how Clark has changed the game, the couple has held Indiana Fever season tickets for three years. They have driven nearly 32,000 miles between their home in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, and Indianapolis for games—and that’s not including their trips to playoff, WNBA All- Star, and Unrivaled games. Whether they’re supporting the Hawkeyes, Fever, or another team, they can be seen in the stands with custom cowboy hats and their faces painted.

At their core, Grimm says she and her husband are the same dedicated fans with or without the paint, but the makeup brings out a more theatrical side. “The passion is there; the screaming for the team is there; the positive energy is there, but there’s a little bit more of a stage with the paint,” says Grimm.

That stage has helped the couple collect several pieces of Hawkeye memorabilia, including Clark-signed shoes, Clark’s WNBA rookie card, and a basketball signed by Hannah Stuelke (26BA). Grimm and Kuklinski argue, however, that the face paint has brought something much greater than collectors’ items.

While others are originally drawn to Grimm and Kuklinski for their face paint, their fandom means more than standing out in a crowd. The couple has met many people at games who have now become lifelong friends.

“Hawkeye women’s basketball has been a miracle in our lives,” says Grimm. “We have all these new, wonderful people to give our love to. We are lucky to receive the same love back.”