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New York is getting one step closer to giving one of its most legendary residents the permanent tribute she deserves.
The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs has unveiled six finalist designs for a new public monument honoring Billie Holiday and for the next few weeks, New Yorkers can help decide what that tribute might look like.
The monument will be installed outside the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in Queens, a fitting location for an artist who lived and performed in the borough and whose influence continues to reverberate through American music more than 60 years after her death. Born Eleanora Fagan Gough, Holiday transformed jazz with her voice and emotional depth and also became a powerful civil rights figure through songs like "Strange Fruit," her protest against lynching.
The six proposals take wildly different approaches to capturing Holiday's legacy.
Artist La Vaughn Belle imagines Holiday emerging from the ground beside a reflective pool in a quiet, introspective moment before stepping into the spotlight. Nikesha Breeze's proposal is perhaps the most traditional, showing Holiday carved from black marble, mid-song, with a built-in amphitheater-like seating area surrounding the sculpture.
Others lean more abstract. Nekisha Durrett reimagines Holiday as a giant marble gardenia petal (a nod to the flowers she famously wore in her hair), with subtle contours that reveal her profile when viewed from the right angle. Tavares Strachan's proposal transforms her silhouette into a monumental stone vessel intended to hold memory, emotion and history.
Meanwhile, Thomas J. Price focuses not on the icon but the person, drawing inspiration from a photograph of Holiday cuddling a beloved dog. His proposal strips away recognizable features entirely, creating two simplified bronze forms that emphasize intimacy and trust over celebrity.
Perhaps the most interactive concept comes from Tanda Francis, whose design would invite community members to inscribe personal stories of struggle and resilience onto sculptural gardenia petals, creating a living monument that evolves over time.
Renderings of all six proposals are currently on display in the lobby of the Jamaica Performing Arts Center through the end of May, and the public can also review the concepts and submit feedback online through May 31.
The final design will be selected later this summer, with community input helping inform the decision.