Soccer jerseys are leveling up. In the Midwest, they’re the newest canvas for art.
And not just any art: Minnesota art.
Women’s soccer team Minnesota Aurora FC is partnering with the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) and a local artist for its kit, or jersey, designs. Debuted earlier this spring, Lindsay Nohl crafted locally inspired nature themes onto the dark blue jerseys.
Nohl, a Minneapolis tattoo artist and college art teacher, has long incorporated botanical and outdoorsy themes into her work, she says. The partnership was as natural as the subject.
“Bobby Rogers, who is head of design and editorial at the Mia, sent me a note one day and was like, ‘Hey, I think we have a project that’s perfect for you,’” Nohl says.
They sure did: The museum and artist worked alongside the soccer team to create a Minnesota-themed kit, brainstorming plants and natural landscapes. The final design, called “Flora,” incorporates a night sky with a coneflower, lupine, wild rice, and state flower—the beloved lady slipper.
Those all symbolize what many Minnesotans hold close.
“Not only do some of them have callbacks to pollinators and kind of how we work together with our natural landscape, two things that really have heritage and foundation and history and culture, and some that just really can survive the winter,” Nohl says. “So, there was kind of both the visual representation of certain kinds of plants, but also kind of the meaningful aspect of those plants.”
Sports apparel is often geometric. Bold. Bright. Their final design is a subtle, night landscape that’s distinct to the field—and to the people running on it.
Talia Coury plays center back and midfield for Minnesota Aurora FC. She’s not from Minnesota and says this design—and the collaboration around it—helped introduce her to her new home.
“When I first saw the jersey, it really put into perspective the place I was representing and how much it means to Aurora,” Coury says. “I can’t wait to continue to represent the community and environment that makes the club ‘Aurora’ and do it with utmost pride.”
Coury’s team is the largest community-owned group of its kind in the country. Over 5,000 people across the world co-own Aurora, which has been undefeated over three years of regular season games. It’s fitting they now have a kit that demonstrates their Minnesota-ness.
“As someone who leads design, I’m interested in how visual language creates emotional connection, and sports naturally carry that energy,” Mia’s Rogers says. “This collaboration is very specifically rooted in Minnesota. It reflects the creative energy here, the collaborative mindset of these organizations, and the pride people feel in our communities.”
Rogers says it’s exciting to see that collaboration across multiple arenas—sports and not.
“Museums can engage audiences through unexpected entry points,” he says. “Art doesn’t have to stay inside gallery walls to be meaningful.”
One point for art, one point for women’s sports. It’s a game everyone can root for.