Adelfa Callejo statue moves one step closer to installation after Dallas council approves donation

An effort to publicly display the bronze statue of Adelfa Callejo, a civil rights champion believed to have been the first Latina to practice law in Dallas, overcame a major hurdle Wednesday.

The Dallas City Council approved the donation in a unanimous vote with the intent to place it in Main Street Garden — a downtown park across from the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law and the municipal court building.

Council members on Wednesday strongly supported the donation after hearing from 16 public speakers who backed the idea. Council member Paula Blackmon, whose mother is Hispanic, was on the brink of tears as she described the influence Callejo had on her relatives. And council member David Blewett, whose district includes Main Street Garden park, said he was proud to receive the Callejo statue.

But the Park and Recreation Board will now have the final say over where the $100,000 donated sculpture, which would be the city’s first of a Latina, would be placed in Main Street Garden.

The board last week in an 11-4 vote delayed approval of the location until its April meeting so it can reach out to residents and businesses around the park after a request from Amanda Schulz, Blewett’s appointee. The board plans to hold a public hearing in March.

Blewett on Wednesday made a dig at Mayor Pro Tem Adam Medrano, who delayed the vote that would have brought the statue to Medrano’s district and worked with the Callejo-Botello Foundation Board to find a new location.

“I could not be more pleased to have this statue in my district,” Blewett said. “District 2’s loss is District 14’s gain.”

Blewett said he was not privy to conversations about the new location.

On Wednesday, Medrano made his first public statements on the statue. He thanked Monica Lira Bravo, an immigration attorney and chairwoman of the Callejo-Botello Foundation Board, for working with him “on finding the perfect location for this statue.”

Callejo was known as a civil rights activist who fought for immigrants, police scrutiny and more Latino representation in elected office. Speakers in support of the sculpture spoke of her as an inspiration for young Hispanics, especially those who wished to practice law, and a staunch advocate for the voiceless.

Texas Rep. Victoria Neave, a Dallas Democrat, was one of the supporters who appeared at Dallas City Hall on Wednesday — wearing a flower on her lapel in honor of Callejo, whose statue depicts the flower on her lapel.

“In my eyes, Adelfa Callejo is an icon. She is a legend,” Neave said. “She is a woman who fearlessly fought for equity and for us to have a seat at the table.”

Park board members last week acknowledged Callejo as an inspiration and an advocate for many important causes but said they wanted more outreach before committing to place the statue in the downtown park.

“I think that you all can agree that we have had numerous discussions about the importance of community input in our parks,” Schulz said at the park board meeting Feb. 6.

While supporters celebrated the win Wednesday, they also expressed frustration over the delays.

Lira Bravo said she felt the sculpture had been unfairly treated compared with other pieces of art placed in Dallas’ public spaces.

Initially presented to the council in November, she hoped the 1,000-pound statue would be installed by the sixth anniversary of Callejo’s death in late January 2014.

“It seems like everything that has happened in this process has been unprecedented,” Lira Bravo said Wednesday. “Nothing that has happened in this process has been normal.”

Both the Public Art Committee and Arts and Culture Advisory Commission unanimously approved the piece. It was originally to be placed at Dallas Love Field Airport, which is in Medrano’s council district, but he quietly delayed the vote.

Then he and council member Omar Narvaez met with Lira Bravo, she said, which is when they agreed to place it in Main Street Garden.

Council member Carolyn King Arnold, who chairs the council’s Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee, said Wednesday she hopes there are no more roadblocks.

“It just continues to put a cloud over who we are as a council,” Arnold said.

Kay Kallos, public art program manager at the city’s Office of Arts and Culture, said at the park board meeting last week that installation would take another three to four months after the board approves the sculpture’s placement.

J.D. Gonzales, Callejo’s nephew, said that while he thought more community input was unnecessary, he was ultimately ecstatic about the unanimous vote Wednesday.

“It would be wonderful if we could get across the finish line,” Gonzales said.