Virgin Islands artist La Vaughn Belle has been selected as a finalist to design a new public monument honoring Billie Holiday in Queens, New York, a press release announced.
Belle’s proposal, “Billie Holiday: Still, at the Crossing,” reimagines the legendary jazz singer in a moment of self-possession and reflection. According to information released about the project, the monument depicts Holiday emerging from the ground at the edge of a reflective pool, positioned between her public and private self, memory and presence.
The proposal focuses on a moment before performance, presenting Holiday dressed for a public appearance while wrapped in a private garment, the press release stated.
“When I started going through archival images of Billie Holiday, I kept returning to the quiet ones, not the performance shots, but the ones where a part of her interior world seemed visible,” Belle said in a statement. “She was so intentional about how she presented herself, how she dressed, what she wanted to communicate about Black women and femininity and herself. And yet, she also sacrificed so much to keep singing Strange Fruit.”
“I became fascinated by what lived inside of her that made all of that possible. That’s what I chose to make visible. That’s what I wanted to make monumental,” she said.
The commission is part of She Built NYC, a New York City public art initiative recognizing women who shaped the city’s history and cultural life. Belle was previously a finalist in the program’s inaugural competition honoring Shirley Chisholm, the release stated.
Belle is also the co-creator of “I Am Queen Mary”, a monument that received international attention following its installation, the release stated.
Members of the public can view the finalist proposals and submit feedback through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs public feedback process: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/
