(above) stevie tuning up before his appearance at Farm Aid.

WHY thE Vaughan Brothers?

Jimmie L. and Stevie Ray Vaughan were both born and raised in the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff.  They went to school here, played in their first bands here and honed their guitar skills in Big D before moving to Austin after they had established themselves as the premier guitarists in a state known for hot guitar players.

While Austin and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have recognized their talents and legacy, their hometown has lagged behind, until now...

Our Mission

The Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs has a site, and the budget, for an artwork to be installed at Kiest Park, just a few hundred yards from where the Vaughan brothers grew up. There is a budget in place, and the artwork can be dedicated to Jimmie L. and Stevie Ray, but we need to raise $68,000 to fund its maintenance for the next 20 years. Please, won't you help us make this a reality?

Why is it important to do this? Dallas has done a very good job of honoring its business leaders (Dealey, Schepps, etc.), but a poor job of honoring its artistic and creative class. The Vaughan Brothers are recognized as two of the most influential guitar players to come from Dallas, so we believe they are a deserving pair for this project.

Dallas has statues for its business leaders, why not the Vaughan Brothers?

Project faq

  1. How much do you need to raise? $68,000
  2. How will the funds be used? Maintenance on the artwork for the next 20 years. The City of Dallas has funding for the artwork, but not the maintenance. With budget cutbacks funds are needed to maintain public art or it may be removed, as is the recent case of an artwork at White Rock Lake. It is slated for removal because the city doesn’t have the funds to keep it up. No money will be spent on administrative salaries. There are no paid positions for this project.
  3. Where will the artwork be installed? Kiest Park, a city park on Hampton Road in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas.
  4. Why did you choose this location? Because of its historical accuracy. Jimmie and Stevie’s boyhood home is just a block or two away, on Glenfield Avenue. Both of them spent a lot of time in Kiest Park growing up.
  5.  What will the artwork look like? We won’t know until designs are submitted. The Office of Cultural Affairs will put out bids to their list of approved artists. Several ideas will be submitted and the best design will be selected from the entries.
  6. Who will decide on the final artwork? A committee appointed by the Office of Cultural Affairs. Kirby Warnock has been promised a spot on the committee and he will receive input from Jimmie Vaughan.
  7. I am an artist and want to submit a design. Who do I contact? Please e-mail Kay Kallos at the Office of Cultural Affairs, [email protected].
  8. So the Vaughan family is in agreement with this? Yes, Jimmie Vaughan gave it his approval in a meeting before his show at the Kessler Theater in 2014.
  9.  Why did you choose to build this in a public park? So the artwork cannot ever be sold or transferred. It will be located on city of Dallas property and will remain there forever. Private property can be sold to another owner, or could go into foreclosure. The new owners may not want the artwork. We wanted to assure all donors that this artwork will remain standing for many, many years to come.
  10. If I make a donation who will be managing the money? The Oak Cliff Foundation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit foundation and owner of the Texas Theatre. Because of tax reporting requirements for non-profits, all of the financial information will be transparent.
  11. What about other projects I’ve read about that say they are trying to install a statue honoring Stevie Ray Vaughan? We don’t have any association with them and they may do as they please. We are the only one to have the approval of Jimmie Vaughan, the Office of Cultural Affairs and the City of Dallas.
  12.  Why did you choose to work with the City? Why not do it privately? Private groups do not have the tax reporting requirements as the non-profit Oak Cliff Foundation, or the financial transparency. We want donors to be able to see an audited financial statement. Private property offers no guarantees that the artwork will remain in place. Just look at the historic buildings that have already been demolished in downtown Dallas.
  13. How long will this take? Probably nine months or longer. Once the call for entries is announced, designs will be submitted, the committee will have to select a finalist, the artwork produced, and then installed.
  14. What about other Dallas musicians? They are many other deserving artists and there may be future efforts to honor Freddy King, B.W. Stevenson or T-Bone Walker, but we believe the Vaughan Brothers are the right starting point.  Dallas should claim its rich musical heritage and this is just a first step.
  15.  What inspired you to do this? The documentary film When Dallas Rocked that recently aired on KERA TV (Channel 13-PBS) brought a flood of queries as to why Dallas hasn’t honored its musicians. With Stevie Ray Vaughan about to go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this felt like the most logical start. As anyone who knows anything about Stevie, he never would have picked up the guitar without the influence and teaching of his older brother, Jimmie. It is important to recognize both of them, because without Jimmie there would be no Stevie.
  16. Who may I contact for more information? Contact Kirby Warnock at [email protected], or Kay Kallos at the Office of Cultural Affairs at [email protected] for more details.