20/05/2026
➡️ Visit the link in ’s bio to take a look at the proposals and let us know what you think via the form by May 31, 2026.
NYC is getting ready to honor the legacy of jazz icon Billie Holiday with a permanent, public artwork in Queens - and we’re asking for New Yorkers’ input on the proposed designs!
Commissioned through our program, the monument will be situated at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center (), near the historic locations of venues where Holiday performed and the neighborhood she once called home.
Born Eleanora Fagan Gough, “Billie” Holiday is among the most celebrated and influential jazz vocalists of all time. Rising to fame in the 1930s, she would go on to transform American music, performing and recording iconic versions of now-classic songs and collaborating with leading musicians including Count Basie and Artie Shaw. She also broke racial barriers as one of the first Black women to perform with integrated white bands.
Now through the end of the month, members of the public are invited to explore the proposals, share their feedback, and help inform the final selection process and contribute to preserving Billie Holiday’s legacy in New York City.
Go to to see proposed designs:
1. William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.
2. Artwork proposal: La Vaughn Belle, “Billie Holiday: Still, at the Crossing.”
3. Artwork proposal: Nikesha Breeze, “Lady Sings the Truth: A Monument to Billie Holiday.”
4. Artwork proposal: Nekisha Durrett, “Bending the Note.”
5. Artwork proposal: Tanda Francis, “Blood at the Root.”
6. Artwork proposal: Thomas J. Price, “Held Within.”
7. Artwork proposal: Tavares Strachan, “The Very Thought of You.”