“Revolving Voices” Art Installation Unveiled at Astoria Houses
On August 31, the Public Housing Community Fund (PHCF), NYCHA, The Urban Conga, resident artist Tamra Cosby, and residents unveiled “Revolving Voices,” an octagonal art installation located at the waterfront stage of NYCHA’s Astoria Houses in Queens. The project is part of PHCF’s From Roots to Arts: Celebrating NYCHA’s Cultural Heritage program, a first-of-its-kind artist-in-residency pilot program that supports five artists at locations in each borough.
The installation features a series of custom-fabricated octagonal, megaphone-like forms that follow the curve of the performance space, decreasing in size. Each piece serves as a space for people to engage and interact, with stories and memories from the Astoria Houses cut into the metal. The poems cut out within each interactive sculpture came to be through spoken word workshops led by Ms. Cosby, who is a resident at Astoria Houses. The perforated images on the outside of the sculpture depict the people, talents, and experiences that make up the Astoria Houses community. Through the rotation of each unit, users can transform the work to create their own space. Together, they create areas for gathering and reflection, connecting past and present voices. The installation represents a new typology of community art within the public housing landscape, demonstrating how a next generation of public art can be interactive, resident-driven, and integrated into everyday community space.
“Revolving Voices reflects the stories and lived experiences of residents living at Astoria Houses, and tells the history of the community in a fun, interactive way,” said Alex Zablocki, Executive Director of the Public Housing Community Fund. “The art, acting as megaphones calling out to the city, gives residents a voice and opportunity to welcome others in. From Roots to Arts created a unique opportunity to connect residents with local artists, allowing them to unlock their creativity and have it reflected in art and programming. This new installation brings out the best of Astoria while creating a welcoming and relaxing environment that the community can enjoy for years to come. Congratulations to Tamra, The Urban Conga, and, most importantly, the residents whose creativity and dedication helped make this project a reality.”
“Projects like Revolving Voices demonstrate the power of transforming public spaces into vibrant hubs of community pride and shared history,” said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “The Connected Communities program places residents at the heart of the design process, ensuring that the art in our developments directly reflects the people who live there. We are grateful to the Public Housing Community Fund, The Urban Conga, and the Astoria Houses residents for their partnership and shared vision.”
“Revolving Voices was created to transform a once-underutilized pass-through space into a welcoming communal landmark that reflects the identity and spirit of the Astoria Houses community. By centering the voices, memories, and continued participation of residents, the work creates a place that feels rooted in the community and invites people to gather, engage, and connect,” said Ryan Swanson, Principal of Urban Conga.
“Working alongside local poet Tamra Cosby and the Astoria Houses community shaped the work into an interaction that extends beyond the physical experience into a prompt for conversation and a reflection of the many stories and perspectives within the community,” said Maeghann Coleman, Principal of Urban Conga.
“As an artist and a resident, creating Revolving Voices gave me the opportunity to look at Astoria Houses not only as a place where I live, but as a place filled with history, creativity, relationships, and possibility. This piece reflects the idea that our voices may change over time, but they remain connected. What we contribute today becomes part of the story that someone else carries forward tomorrow,” said artist Tamra Cosby.
Lead artist Tamra Cosby and The Urban Conga engaged extensively with Astoria Houses residents throughout the design process. Through a series of collaborative sessions, residents were invited to photograph what they envisioned as the past, present, and future of Astoria Houses, helping inspire the artwork’s design. The team also facilitated storytelling, creative-building activities, and conversations about the site, while giving residents the opportunity to vote on the design they wanted to see in their community.
Tamra continued engaging with community members to gather their stories, memories, and experiences of Astoria Houses. Drawing from these conversations, she developed a written body of work that was incorporated into the final piece, ensuring the artwork reflects the voices and lived experiences of the community.
From Roots to Arts connects local artists with public housing residents through community-based residencies, empowering artists and residents to collaborate in redefining how stories are told and the kinds of art created and displayed in public housing communities. This work highlights the depth of talent, history, and storytelling already present within NYCHA communities while strengthening connections between artists, residents, and neighborhood institutions.
This program is part of NYCHA’s Connected Communities program, which focuses on transforming open and community spaces through public-private partnerships. The program’s efforts were based on participatory planning and design and strive to enhance physical and social connections between residents and their communities.