Statue of Willie Nelson statue to be erected 2nd Street (a.k.a. Willie Nelson Boulevard) in downtown Austin

Next year, Capital Area Statues Inc (CAST) will publicly unveil its newest public art piece in downtown Austin—an eight-foot bronze likeness of Austin music icon Willie Nelson. CAST commissioned artist Clete Shields to create the piece, which will be located along Willie’s (and The Austonian’s) very own street, Willie Nelson Boulevard, at ACL Live, which hosts the Austin City Limits music show that Willie helped make famous.

CAST is an Austin-based non-profit whose mission is to celebrate the culture and history of our city through the display of public sculpture. They believe that public monuments can help draw people together “in a shared understanding of our city’s past and the promise of its future.”

The Willie Nelson sculpture is CAST’s third public monument in central Austin. Previous donations include the Philosopher’s Rock sculpture at the entrance of Barton Springs, and the statue of Angelina Eberly firing a cannon on Congress Avenue.

More information about CAST, artist Clete Shields, and the Willie Nelson sculpture is available in a recent CultureMap article. 

(Photo credit: CultureMap)