The City of Dallas will hold a dedication ceremony today for a public art project honoring the contributions of musicians Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmie Vaughan is scheduled to attend the ceremony this afternoon at Kiest Park in Dallas.
The brothers grew up in Oak Cliff and got their start in the Dallas music scene before moving to Austin and finding national success. Jimmie Vaughan played guitar for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, which had a string of hit records in the mid-1980s. He has also received several Grammy Awards for his work with Stevie Ray and as a solo artist.
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble released the album Texas Flood in 1983 to critical and commercial acclaim. It was followed by several more successful albums. Stevie Ray Vaughan also received several Grammy Awards in the blues and rock categories. He died in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin in 1990.
While both musicians were based in Austin during their rise to national prominence, former Buddy Magazine editor Kirby Warnock notes they originally honed their craft in nightclubs around Dallas.
"We've got a very rich musical history here in Dallas that a lot of people aren't aware of and so we've got to start commemorating it," he said, "otherwise a lot of us that remember it will be dead and gone."
Warnock helped raise money for the project. He's glad the City of Dallas is putting an emphasis on its cultural heritage.
"We're finally going to honor a musician for the first time, and I hope it's the start of something bigger," he said. "I'm just tickled that we're finally planting a flag and staking a claim to our history, and we've got a great music history in this town."
The artwork in Kiest Park was installed last year, but the City was unable to hold a dedication ceremony at that time because of social distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's ceremony at 4 o'clock was chosen to honor Stevie Ray's birthday of October 3rd, 1954.
The artwork is a series of steel panels cut to feature images of the Vaughan brothers. The piece by artist Casto Solano from Spain is titled "We are Music & Music Is Us".
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