Brooklyn Doby was always a perfectionist.
“My parents always told me … I didn’t talk until I could say my first first sentence,” she said in an interview. “I didn’t walk until I got up on my first birthday and ran, and I didn’t color until I was two years old. Apparently, I drew an apple and I colored it perfectly in the lines.”
She’s not sure that story is 100 percent true, but regardless, her love of and talent for visual art goes back a long way. And it will be on full display tonight as professional soccer team Forward Madison FC will celebrate Juneteenth by wearing a jersey she designed during warmups before their match against Westchester SC.
Art in the family
In fact, that artistic talent is in her genes — she is the daughter of platinum-record-selling music producer Greg Doby, whose family includes a range of artists in music and visual arts.
Brooklyn Doby’s mom is a counselor, so by studying art therapy at Edgewood College, she said, “I kind of combined my parents’ career paths into one.”
She graduated in the spring of 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic and racial tensions over the murder of George Floyd gripped the nation. Along with several other local artists, Doby was contracted by the City of Madison to create a murals to cover the boarded-up storefronts on State Street. That got her noticed by more people around the community, and she landed more mural commisisons. Her work can be seen on the front of Luna’s Groceries and Fitchburg Family Pharmacy, inside the O’Keefe Middle School band room, and as far away as Beaver Dam.
“And then I just kind of broke off and was like, you know, I really love murals. They’re great they but they take a lot of time and energy for just one person,” she said. “And so I was like, ‘I really love to paint. Let me see if I can sell my paintings.’ And from there, I started turning my paintings into prints of clothing and stickers and just making a business out of it, and doing small pop up shops around Madison,” as well as Art Fair on the Square.
“Strength and growth”
She’s never been to a soccer game, other than the ones featuring her 6-year-old daughter. But when a representative from Dane Arts called and said Forward Madison was looking for a Black artist to design a jersey, she leapt at the opportunity.
“I’ve seen other artists do jerseys for Forward Madison, so I was like, ‘Oh, this is like my make-it moment,'” she said.
The team connected her with Featherstone Flamingos, an inclusive supporters’ group that celebrates Black culture. They gave her some concepts they wanted to incorporate — elements of culture, food, dance.
She said the jersey was originally supposed to be a Black History Month special offering, but the team is in preseason without a lot of attention in February.
“We decided Juneteenth was the better option. The meaning behind it is the same — the elements it has are relevant to both holidays,” she said.
Those elements, coming from the cultural touchstones the Featherstone Flamingos said they wanted to see, started with abstract portrait of a Black woman whose hair forms the shape of the African continent.
“And then within the Africa, there are elements of food, dance, music, and there’s a fist with roots … to demonstrate strength and growth. I used a rose, because that’s my symbolism of strength and growth and overcoming hardship,” she said. “I wanted to incorporate a family sitting down at mealtime, and just there’s different elements of food in there, because how I remember Juneteenth is going to Penn Park and smelling all the amazing food on Juneteenth and celebrating. I feel like that’s a form and action of love, and that’s how we show love to one another, is by cooking a meal for each other and being able to sit down and have tough conversations and celebrate with one another. And I just wanted to overall portray ancestry and overcoming how far we’ve come from history, but also celebrating where we are in the present and where we have to go in the future.”
As she usually works with real paint on surfaces, she taught herself to use the art app Procreate to create the digital art that would become the jersey design.
Doby will have a table at tonight’s match where she will sign posters and will have some of her other work available as well. And she’s a bit nervous — she also gets to do the ceremonial first kick.
She said she appreciates Forward Madison showcasing local artists in this way.
“I think it shows the community, and people who look like me, that your dreams aren’t as far or unreachable as you think they are,” she said. “I feel like just an ordinary person, but this is a big moment. I’m so appreciative to just be seen, to be heard, and to be an advocate for other stories.”
The Juneteenth jerseys will be available in the Flamboyance team store at tonight’s match, as well as online here. The club will donate 25% of proceeds to the Progress Center for Black Women.
Forward Madison takes on Westchester Soccer Club at 7 pm tonight, seeking their first home win of the season, at Breese Stevens Field. The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
