Focus on this artwork and explain the Statue and Willie Nelson Boulevard.
In 2010, the nonprofit organization Capital Area Statues commissioned a bronze sculpture of Nelson to Philadelphia artist Clete Shields. Shields had met board member Elizabeth Avellán at the 1995 San Diego Comic-Con. In 2009, Avellán called Shields with the proposal for a Nelson statue. She requested Shields to portray on it Nelson facing the crowd, "approchable; and he had to have that twinkle in his eye." Shields made several versions in clay. The artist visited Nelson, and expressed his desire to capture the singer's "humor and humility". The organization wanted to fund the statue based on public donations, with an estimated cost of US$150,000 to $250,000. 18-inch replicas of the model were given to the donors that contributed with over $10,000. The commission of the statue was announced during the development of Block 21 in Downtown Austin in 2010. Mayor Lee Leffingwell considered the upcoming opening at the development of the new venue for Austin City Limits, The Moody Theater, and Nelson's forty year residence in the city to rename that section of Second Street to Willie Nelson Boulevard. In December 2010, it was announced that the 8 feet (2.4 m) statue would be placed at the entrance of the Moody Theater, on Second and Lavaca streets. The statue was presented at Troublemaker Studios in November 2011 with Nelson in attendance.The larger than life size bronze statue depicts Nelson perched on a stool, dressed in his typical style with a bandana over trailing braids of hair, a sleeveless t-shirt, long pants and boots, with his guitar Trigger slung under his left arm. The statue accurately depicts the large hole above Trigger's bridge, a hole worn into the guitar by Nelson during decades of use.
Nelson's statue was unveiled on April 20, 2012 (4/20 Day) at 4:20 p.m. Lawrence Wright, the president of Capital Area Statues considered it a "complete and utter coincidence." The date was convenient for Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, who were due to perform a Johnny Cash tribute concert that night on Austin City Limits. Nelson, Mayor Leffingwell, and members of the Austin City Council were in attendance, as well as Kristofferson. Nelson told journalist Andy Lager: "I’ll be stoned one thousand years." The singer performed for the crowd "On the Road Again", followed by his latest composition "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die".
4/20 Day Block 21 nonprofit organization Statue Austin City Limits bronze sculpture bandana Trigger Lawrence Wright San Diego Comic-Con Downtown Austin left Austin City Council Austin Kris Kristofferson On the Road Again Troublemaker Studios Lee Leffingwell Elizabeth Avellán Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die Clete Shields Downtown Willie Nelson