{"id":237135,"date":"2026-05-19T19:48:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/237135\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:48:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:48:41","slug":"nyc-reveals-design-proposals-for-billie-holiday-monument-in-queens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/237135\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC reveals design proposals for Billie Holiday monument in Queens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NYC<\/p>\n

More than seven years after it was first commissioned, a monument honoring Billie Holiday in New York City is moving forward. The city\u2019s Department of Cultural Affairs on Tuesday unveiled proposals from six artists for a new permanent artwork celebrating the jazz legend that will be installed at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in Queens. The monument is part of a long-delayed effort<\/a> to increase the representation of influential women in public spaces across the five boroughs. The public can review the proposals and submit feedback through the end of May. An artist will be chosen this summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by William P. Gottlieb\/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, Digital Collections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While she was born in Philadelphia, Billie Holiday moved to Harlem with her mother and began singing in nightclubs as a teenager, as 6sqft previously reported.<\/p>\n

She rose to fame in the 1930s, transforming American music through her distinctive voice and emotional depth. Her song \u201cStrange Fruit\u201d remains one of the most powerful works of political expression in American music and was named \u201csong of the century\u201d by Time magazine.<\/p>\n

Holiday also broke racial barriers, becoming the first Black woman to perform with integrated white bands. Her honors include several Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She later lived and performed in Queens, and the monument aims to honor her connection to the borough.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf all the music titans who have called Queens home, few stand taller or shine brighter than Billie Holiday. More than 65 years after her passing, her unmistakable voice and dynamic legacy continue to inspire performers across borough, city, state, nation, and world,\u201d Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only right that she be forever honored at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, a venue she would have undoubtedly loved. Thank you to the incredible artists who have put forth stunning proposals honoring Billie\u2019s memory, and I encourage all our neighbors to make their thoughts known through the end of the month.\u201d<\/p>\n

The monument was originally part of the She Built NYC<\/a> campaign, which first launched in June 2018 with the goal of ensuring half of the city\u2019s statues honor women. At the time, just five of the city\u2019s 150 statues depicted women. The first wave included statues for Billie Holiday, Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, Dr. Helen Rodr\u00edguez Tr\u00edas, and Katherine Walker.<\/p>\n

Stalled during the pandemic, the initiative remained inactive until March 2024, when former Mayor Eric Adams revived the effort<\/a>. The artworks are commissioned through the DCLA\u2019s Percent for Art program, with a panel convening in late 2025 to invite six artists to develop proposals.<\/p>\n

Since then, the artists have participated in orientation sessions, site visits, and discussions with Billie Holiday experts and family members, alongside ongoing guidance from DCLA staff as they refined their concepts.<\/p>\n

The final design will be selected by a Percent for Art panel made up of representatives from city agencies, local leaders, community members, public art professionals, and stakeholders committed to preserving Holiday\u2019s legacy. The decision is set to be announced this summer.<\/p>\n

See the proposals for the Billie Holiday monument below: <\/p>\n

La Vaughn Belle: \u201cBillie Holiday: Still, at the Crossing\u201d (working title)<\/p>\n

\"\"La Vaughn Belle, \u201cBillie Holiday: Still, at the Crossing.\u201d Artwork proposal. <\/p>\n

La Vaughn Belle, one of the finalists, has proposed \u201cBillie Holiday: Still, at the Crossing,\u201d which presents the singer in a moment of \u201cself-possession.\u201d Emerging from the ground at the edge of a reflective pool, the sculpture depicts Holiday at the intersection of her public and private life, shifting focus to a \u201cpre-stage\u201d moment, with the singer elegantly dressed for a public appearance but wrapped in a private garment.<\/p>\n

Nikesha Breeze: \u201cLady Sings the Truth: A Monument to Billie Holiday\u201d (working title)<\/p>\n

\"\"Nikesha Breeze, \u201cLady Sings the Truth: A Monument to Billie Holiday.\u201d Artwork proposal.<\/p>\n

Nekisha Breeze has proposed \u201cLady Sings the Truth: A Monument to Billie Holiday.\u201d Carved in Nero Marquina marble, the monument honors Holiday\u2019s voice, elegance, song style, advocacy for racial justice, and ties to Queens. The use of black marble reflects her legacy and symbolic power.<\/p>\n

The sculpture depicts her standing mid-song, with a gown cascading into an integrated seat that functions as a stone amphitheater and resonance chamber. White marble gardenias sit in her hair and float in a reflecting pool below. The work is engraved with the phrase \u201cSing the Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nekisha Durrett: \u201cBending the Note\u201d (working title)<\/p>\n

\"\"Nekisha Durrett, \u201cBending the Note.\u201d Artwork proposal.<\/p>\n

Nekisha Durrett has proposed \u201cBending the Note,\u201d which reimagines Holiday as a white marble gardenia petal rising from a thin stem. Its gentle bend reveals a gold underside that refracts light. Beneath, a circular granite plinth transforms her life into \u201cconcentric revolutions of memory, sound, and story,\u201d etched in gold and silver and developed in collaboration with her family to \u201cset the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tanda Francis: \u201cBlood at the Root\u201d (working title)<\/p>\n

\"\"Tanda Francis, \u201cBlood at the Root.\u201d Artwork proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlood at the Root\u201d by Tanda Francis honors Holiday\u2019s role as a \u201cspiritual godmother\u201d to those who suffered as she did. Gardenia petals spiral outward from her crown above a healing pond, whose water is intended to \u201ccleanse\u201d and \u201cbear witness.\u201d Blood-red tiles at its base honor the pain she experienced. Community members will inscribe personal tribulations and triumphs onto the petals through workshops.<\/p>\n

Thomas J. Price: \u201cHeld Within\u201d (working title)<\/p>\n

\"\"Thomas J. Price, \u201cHeld Within.\u201d Artwork proposal.<\/p>\n

Thomas J. Price has created \u201cHeld Within,\u201d which looks past Holiday\u2019s immense fame and depicts her as wholly unguarded and entirely herself. The sculpture is inspired by a private photograph of Holiday pressing her face into a small dog she loved. Two simplified bronze forms mirror that gesture, stripped of likeness, costume, and era. The smaller form is intentionally ambiguous and can be read as a dog, a child, or a beloved person.<\/p>\n

Tavares Strachan: \u201cThe Very Thought of You\u201d (working title)<\/p>\n

\"\"Tavares Strachan, \u201cThe Very Thought of You.\u201d Artwork proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Very Thought of You\u201d by Tavares Strachan is a stone sculpture inspired by Billie Holiday, named after one of her famed recordings. Based on a historic photographic profile, the proposal transforms her silhouette into an \u201cinfinite, vessel-like form,\u201d where mirrored profiles fan outward across a central void. The sculpture is intended as a container for \u201csound, memory, and presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor much of her life, Billie Holiday considered NYC her creative home. It\u2019s appropriate the city is now honoring her with a monument that will symbolize her enduring contribution not only to the city but to American culture,\u201d Paul Alexander, author of \u201cBitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday\u2019s Last Year,\u201d said.<\/p>\n

Members of the public are invited to review the final proposals and submit feedback through an online form<\/a>. Responses from the survey will be shared with the Percent for Art selection panel to help inform the final decision.<\/p>\n

An exhibition of the proposal renderings will be on view in the lobby of the Jamaica Performing Arts Center for the rest of the month. The display will be open May 22 to 25 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., May 27 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., May 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and May 31 from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

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