Concept design of Casto Solano’s tribute to Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan

The city of Dallas is a few weeks away from finalizing Spanish artist Casto Solano’s design for a tribute to the Vaughan brothers at Kiest Park.

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The artwork cost about $74,000. In fundraising led by former Buddy magazine editor Kirby Warnock, neighbors, friends and fans raised $68,000 in 2016 for a public monument to Oak Cliff’s famous rock-n-roll sons Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Of that, $28,000 will go to the cost of the structure itself, and $40,000 will be put into a maintenance fund. The remaining cost will come from 2006 bond funds.

The sculpture will consist of a steel screen with photos of the Vaughan brothers, song lyrics and information about their lives.

Kay Kallos of the Office of Cultural Affairs says it has taken time to obtain licenses to use the photos and to work out Internal Revenue Service rules about paying a foreign worker.

But she says that she expects Solano to show them, via Skype from his home in Spain, the final design soon. Then he can begin fabricating it and have it shipped.

The tribute will be visible from Hampton at its location near Cliff Teen Court, between Kiest and Perryton. That location was chosen because it was a gathering spot for Stevie Ray Vaughan’s friends the day he died in a helicopter crash in 1990 and has served as a memorial spot since.