{"id":371788,"date":"2026-07-13T23:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/371788\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:22:08","slug":"oak-cliff-native-edie-brickell-commissions-bust-of-kessler-theaters-jeffrey-liles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/371788\/","title":{"rendered":"Oak Cliff native Edie Brickell commissions bust of Kessler Theater\u2019s Jeffrey Liles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/oakcliff.advocatemag.com\/img_6700\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91384\" class=\"size-full wp-image-91384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_6700.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1536\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-91384\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Victoria Hernandez.<\/p>\n<p>The Kessler Theater Artistic Director Jeffrey Liles is now immortalized with a bronze bust honoring his four decades of contributions to the Dallas music scene.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioned by Oak Cliff native and singer-songwriter<a href=\"https:\/\/oakcliff.advocatemag.com\/2021\/02\/edie-brickell-new-bohemians-new-album\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Edie Brickell,<\/a> the custom piece was recently installed in the courtyard space of the Kessler Theater to pay tribute to his legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Liles said it\u2019s not just his legacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very much a shared legacy with her,\u201d he said of Brickell. \u201cI mean, I\u2019ve known her 40 years \u2026 I mean, she is one of these people who never forgets where she came from, and I think as we\u2019ve gotten older, she just really wants to recognize that, wants to recognize where we all came from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Artist Louie Zakarin, who was head of the Saturday Night Live makeup department for nearly 30 years, sculpted the bust. The piece was then cast utilizing Zakarian\u2019s 3D file by the artisans of Pyrology Foundry in Bastrop, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The courtyard location for the installation was donated by Kessler Theater owner Edwin Cabaniss, with the custom fountain beside the bust designed by Brickell\u2019s longtime friend, Heather Ezell.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think as far as Dallas goes, that the Kessler is still kind of her home away from home when it comes to live performances,\u201d Liles said. \u201cShe was born in Methodist, which is less than a mile away. And I think she just has emotional connection to North Oak Cliff and The Kessler in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A commemorative plaque is also included, featuring lyrics from \u201cBuffalo Ghost\u201d by Edie Brickell &amp; New Bohemians. Liles noted that Brickell knows that it is his favorite song of theirs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know she did this bust of me or whatever, but I think it\u2019s kind of a give back to the whole community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>A dedication ceremony is planned for sometime this fall, but visitors are encouraged to view the piece now. Brickell will also be back at the Kessler Theater performing with the new group World Famous Pets on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prekindle.com\/event\/82385-world-famous-pets-dallas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tuesday, Oct. 6.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Victoria Hernandez. The Kessler Theater Artistic Director Jeffrey Liles is now immortalized with a bronze bust&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-371788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}