New York University (NYU) recently unveiled its pick for the 2022 NYU Global Trailblazer Award for Creative and Artistic Excellence: Solange Knowles.
NYU formally recognizes Knowles‘ work within the industry and she will receive her award on International Women’s Day (Mar. 8). That same day, Knowles will also be a guest speaker in the NYU Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity and Strategic Innovation’s conversation on women’s empowerment and innovation. This is part of the new Global Black Women Leadership Initiative within a program dubbed NYU Women Lead: A Global Leadership Accelerator.
This event, which will also feature Dr. Lisa Coleman of NYU, builds off of the NYUWomxn100 initiative—a series of events that “celebrates the lives, pursuits, innovations and achievements of womxn of transgender, non-binary and cisgender experiences.”
It’s also worth mentioning that this hour-long event—described as a celebration of “the experiences and efforts of prolific trailblazers” —is free, open to the public and accessible via Zoom. You can register here.
Knowles hasn’t publicly commented on the honor via Instagram or Twitter, though we’re sure this artist is excited to participate in this women’s empowerment event.
Notably, NYU isn’t the first university to pay tribute to Knowles, as she was memorably named Harvard’s artist of the year back in 2018. Knowles was also awarded the Lena Horne Award for Artists Creating Social Impact about two years ago.
While many probably came to know Knowles as Beyoncé’s younger sister, she is an R&B star in her own right with hits like “Losing You,” “Cranes in the Sky,” and “Almeda.” She has also held performance art shows at high-profile venues worldwide and she notably established a platform called “Saint Heron” to help empower Black artists.
