A memorial plaque for Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan, virtuoso guitarist brothers who grew up in Oak Cliff, has been installed in Kiest Park. Dedication of the Vaughan Brothers Art Work Project has been delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions, but the plaque is in place.
Vaughan Brothers Plaque
“Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, influential Texas blues musicians, grew up in Oak Cliff proximate to Kiest Park. Many residents remember Stevie Ray cutting across the park on his way home from school. Upon his tragic death an impromptu memorial was set up near the location of this sculpture.”
“Basque artist Casto Solano created artwork honoring the musical contributions of Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan. The imagery of the Vaughan Brothers’ lives and music includes both brothers and their song lyrics. The artwork is an homage and an invitation to reminisce and to enjoy their music. The cutwork metal purposefully merges the images of the Vaughans with the surrounding community to make a place of belonging and lace them back into the fabric of Dallas.”
“Linking the material world with the ephemeral ecstasy of music, the art can serve as a stage for small concerts. Welcoming, interactive, harmonious and energetic, friendly and optimistic. The artwork will run to the very heart of music’s reason for being; its symbiotic relationship with human beings. To the palindromic truth; that we are music and music is us.”
Kirby Warnock
Kirby Warnock, a former editor of Buddy Music Magazine and now a documentary filmmaker, is the driving force behind the Vaughan Brothers Art Project. His documentary, “When Dallas Rocked,” was released in Nov. 2019.
Warnock said, “The artist, Casto Solano, designed it so you cannot see the images unless you get out of the car and stand directly in front of each panel, then they almost magically appear. If you are standing to the side, or just driving by, it looks like a rusty wall. Casto’s design is to encourage people to walk up to it and reflect on each image.”
“Actually it’s pretty cool because it requires you to get close to experience it, and have a moment to reflect on it. Remember that this location was chosen because it is only about five blocks from Stevie and Jimmie’s childhood home, and the candlelight vigil for SRV was held just a few hundred feet from here after he died. There is still landscaping to be done around the artwork. The artwork has not yet been officially dedicated. That will (hopefully) happen on March 20, if Covid restrictions are lifted,” Warnock said.
Vaughan Brothers Art Work Project
The photo images used on the memorial plaque are from Tracy Hart, Glen Loferman, and Jimmie Vaughan. Donations for the memorial came from numerous fans of the Vaughan brothers and their music. Major donors are listed on the plaque as The Cabaniss Family Foundation, Jeffery Stephen Davis, John and Lisa Dennis, The Kessler Theater, the North Texas Music Foundation, the Oak Cliff Foundation, Kirby Warnock, and the City of Dallas Office of Arts & Culture.
