Clara Wu Tsai, co-owner of the Brooklyn Nets, Barclays Center, and the New York Liberty, has commissioned artist LaToya Ruby Frazier to create her first public artwork, "The Liberty Portraits: A Monument to the 2024 Champions" (2024-2025). The project features nine-foot-tall portraits of each player on the Liberty’s 2024 championship-winning roster, with one side showing the player in uniform and the reverse depicting them with their chosen family. Wu Tsai, a noted collector, has also worked with artists Sarah Sze and Rashid Johnson to develop ambitious art for the Brooklyn stadium, and her Social Justice Fund has supported public art installations like Tavares Strachan's neon piece "We Belong Here."
This initiative matters because it exemplifies a growing trend of integrating contemporary art into sports venues, using public art to foster community, empathy, and accessibility. Wu Tsai's approach—commissioning with care and focusing on social justice—offers a model for how the art world can reach new, diverse audiences beyond traditional white-cube spaces. By highlighting WNBA athletes through Frazier's portraiture, the project also brings visibility to women's sports and addresses systemic inequality in Brooklyn, demonstrating art's power as a tool for storytelling and social change.