Adelfa Callejo statue could make Dallas history, but city council delays honor to activist

Adelfa Callejo was known for being a fearless civil rights lawyer who battled for immigrants, police scrutiny and more representation of Latinos in elected office.

Now, her supporters are waging one more fight on behalf of the woman who died nearly six years ago of brain cancer.

A bronze statue in her likeness was set to be perched in Dallas Love Field Airport, a prominent location for millions of travelers each year.

But the location of the statue now remains in limbo after approval of the donation was stalled at a Dallas City Council meeting earlier this month.

Within seconds and without discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Adam Medrano quietly moved the issue to the council’s Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee, whose members will have to determine the next steps — whether to accept the donated statue, change its proposed location or reject it altogether.

“Dumbfounded” and “blindsided” is how Monica Lira Bravo, chairwoman of the Botello-Callejo Foundation Board, described her reaction. She’s worked with city officials on the statue’s location since early this year. Both the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission and Public Art Committee approved the piece unanimously.

“We went in there confident that it would be an easy pass on the consent agenda,” Lira Bravo said. “We were taken very much by surprise.”

Medrano didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Jennifer Scripps, director of the city’s Office of Arts and Culture, said Dallas currently doesn’t have any statues of women. Callejo’s could be the first.

The idea for the Callejo statue began earlier, but a statue committee was formed shortly after her death in January 2014 and raised money to commission a piece by Mexican artist Germán Michel. The $100,000 statue, which weighs around 1,000 pounds, is now warehoused in Dallas.