If you’ve strolled along North Avenue, near Fifth Street, you’ve probably seen local artist Ras’Ammar Nsoroma’s colorful mural The Patchwork. It depicts many of the city’s Black leaders in a quilt-like composition.
The painting has been a fixture of the Bronzeville neighborhood since 1991, and now it’s a part of the Milwaukee Bucks’ legacy, too.
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This season, the Bucks unveiled a new uniform inspired both by the aesthetics of Nsoroma’s artwork and the idea of community represented within it. Dustin Godsey, the team’s chief marketing officer, says that he and his colleagues wanted to create something that would suggest “a gathering place for the city, where everybody comes together.”
With input from Nsoroma, the Bucks created a design with side panels featuring an eye-catching pattern reminiscent of the mural. Players have been wearing the new uniforms during Wednesday home games and will do so through the season.
The Bucks are also helping to fund the restoration of the iconic mural. And they have plans to create other limited-edition uniforms for upcoming seasons. “We’re looking for local partnerships,” Godsey says, “and local stories.”
