Thomas J. Price and Tavares Strachan Make Shortlist for Billie Holiday Monument Designs
9May 21, 2026
On Tuesday, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs released its finalist shortlist for its planned public monument dedicated to legendary jazz and swing singerBillie Holiday. British sculptorThomas J. Priceand Bahamian conceptual artistTavares Strachanare both among the top contenders,Artnetreported.
Price’s proposal, entitledHeld Within,features two radically simplified bronze beans leaning up against one another; Price drew inspiration from aphotograph of Holiday cuddling a pet dog. “Against decades of projection and mythologizing, what remains when everything superfluous is removed is warmth, intimacy, and complete mutual trust,” his proposal reads.
Strachan’s equally conceptual proposal, The Very Thought of You, transforms the artist’s profile into a vessel-like white column where “mirrored profiles face one another across a central void.”
Holiday, who was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, struck out for New York City as a teenager, later becoming a staple in the Harlem jazz scene before ultimately transforming the American songbook forever. The permanent public artwork honoring Holiday will be located in Queens–where the vocalist both lived and performed–outside the Jamaica Performing Arts Center.
“Honoring [Holiday] here in Queens, where she lived, performed, and contributed to the cultural life of the borough, makes this project especially meaningful,” Nantasha Williams, a representative of New York’s 27th district, said in a statement. “This monument is an opportunity to create a lasting cultural landmark that connects residents and visitors alike to the history, creativity, and influence rooted in Queens.”
The four other finalists in addition to Strachan and Price are La Vaughn Belle, Nikesha Breeze, Nekisha Durrett and Tanda Francis; each of these artists responded to an open call put out at the end of 2025, and all of them have met with Holiday scholars and the singer’s family members in order to help conceive their prospective design concepts. Strachan isn’t the only artist who drew inspiration from Holiday’s love for dogs: Nekisha Durrett’s Bending the Note reimagines Holiday as the petal of a white marble gardenia, gazed upon in adoration by a miniature marble chihuahua.