Marquis Cultivates Next Gen Excellence

“Prepare your minds,” Marquis Brantley announced to his squad of six young athletes, ​“to crab.” He crouched down on all fours, alternating between his left and right limbs as he ​“crabbed” to the opposite side of Bowen Field.

“Just because I can do it fast doesn’t mean that you should, too. My hands are a burning mess, so slow down. Feel every moment.”

As Olympians across the globe prepare in advance of the hotly contested 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Brantley trained the next generation of local athletic excellence on Wednesday at their home turf at 175 Crescent St., adjacent to Hillhouse High School.

Since the beginning of June, Brantley has brought his children Moriah, RJ, Ezekiel (“Zeke”), Kayliana, nephew Jyrus, and niece Jadah to Bowen Field three times for preseason training. As Brantley spoke to this reporter, basketball star Jadah practiced handstands with gymnast Kayliana, and Chad Dawson-mentee Zeke watched Jyrus toss a football around with RJ.

“Their summer camps don’t start for a while, but I mean training with me is as good as any summer camp,” Brantley explained. The family is making the most of New Haven-based offerings, including sports programming through LEAP and the Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology (ConnCAT). ​“I’m still looking for a camp,” said Moriah, a basketball player and rising freshman at Hillhouse.

“Sure, it can be a tough workout, but these kids would come home and complain that they were bored. And it’s also a nice chance for them to hang out,” Brantley said about Wednesday’s outing. The family arrived around 11:30 a.m. with plans to leave at 3 p.m.

The kids’ regimen usually consists of stretching followed by a few laps snaking through the bleachers overlooking Bowen Field, various drills, and an hour-long cooldown football game or cartwheels.

Once he reached the other side of the field, Brantley cheered on the remaining crab-walkers before giving each of them a high-five. ​“It’s not a race, it’s about doing your best.”

On the crab-walk back to the bench, Kayliana hitched a ride on her dad’s back. ​“She’s a little acrobat,” Brantley chuckled.

At 40, Brantley, who is also an artist, has generated pieces that have been featured throughout Connecticut. ​“I spent a year at Paier [College], I didn’t graduate, but I’m still out here making a living and getting involved with the community.” In May, his painting ​“Together We Stand” was featured in Yale’s Trumbull College.

Hailing from Newhallville, Brantley spent his childhood summers playing basketball and football at Lincoln-Bassett Park. He now lives off of Whalley Avenue, just a few minutes from his brother’s home on Winthrop.

Brantley’s relationship with his brother, Jay Brantley, has also inspired several of his pieces, all exploring themes of the Black male experience. His painting ​“Baptism” draws from his and Jay’s likenesses and touches on growth and transformation.

Jay, a cross-genre photographer, will also play an integral role in two of Brantley’s upcoming projects. ​“Unveiling Roots” is a multimedia series of ​“interviews, photoshoots, and paintings of the people who made me” funded by a $20,000 grant slated to debut in March 2025, while ​“Braggish Rights” focuses on Black male excellence in academics and extracurricular activities.

“‘Braggish Rights’ is pretty much the same concept [as ​‘Unveiling Roots’], but instead of one painting of the subject, I’ll make two: one of the son, and one of the father.” Brantley intends to gift the paintings to father-son duos to kickstart their art collections.

Brantley is seeking exhibition space at various New Haven venues including ConnCAT at 4 Science Park, where he previously freelanced as an art instructor for K‑12 students. ​“The dream is NXTHVN, because those guys are going global.”

At the thought of collaborating with the art center’s greats, Brantley dropped his phone on the turf, the screen already splintered into a mosaic — art in and of itself according to the artist’s philosophy, which places strong emphasis on observing the world through diverse lenses.

“I mean, Titus Kaphar? His work is just… like, c’mon, man!” Brantley whipped off his New York Yankees baseball cap and threw his head back, his hands on his head. A black-beaded bracelet reading ​“DAD” encircled his right wrist — an original piece by his daughter, Moriah.

He continued to gush over prolific artists Kehinde Wiley, known for his vibrant and floral portraits, and Amy Sherald, who painted the portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Black excellence is a central theme in Brantley’s work, so much so that he named his brand ​“Black XLNC”. He explained, “[Life] is not a race. It’s about how you carry yourself. It’s about [the kids] seeing themselves succeeding now so that they can push forward with confidence on their own walks.”

According to Brantley, excellence runs in the genes: ​“All these kids, they’re on the honor roll. I told them, ​‘Once you get a taste of honor roll, stay up there.’ I don’t just want them to work hard, I want them to want to work hard.”

“I mean, Jyrus is an artist, too, and he just goes out and sells his work. I look up to him, because I can be self-conscious of my own art, so seeing him feel confident in his work brings me joy.”

When asked what he wants for his kids, ​“I just want everything good for them. We all strive for excellence in our own way, so I want to see them shine in an excellent way— no, in a way of excellence.”