Sunday, October 21, 2001

13 The Selena statue

David Adame /Caller-Times

People from around the world come to Corpus Christi to see the statue of Selena and pay their respects.

As the years pass, the bayfront statue of Selena Quintanilla-Perez continues to make the transition from tourist attraction to shrine. Like the Alamo, it's a place both to gawk, and to pay respects.
   "They visit her statue as a quasi-holy ground," says Leo Carrillo, professor of Mexican- American studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. "Corpus Christi is better known because of Selena."
   Number of daily visitors
   Uncounted, unknown, but for the statue to be unattended by visitors is a rare sight.
   Title
   Mirador de la Flor
   Design details
  

Made of bronze
  

Height is 5 feet 8 inches, life-size
  

Surrounded by a stainless steel 4-foot barrier to protect it from vandalism
  

Its face is turned toward the water
  

A single white, sculpted rose is next to her
  

Black leather outfit depicted in statue is housed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
   La flor: White roses were Selena's favorite and have come to symbolize the singer
   Unveiled: May 25, 1997, about two years, two months after her death
   Location: Entrance of Peoples Street T-Head
   Sculptor: H.W. "Buddy" Tatum of Corpus Christi
   Cost: $600,000 for both statue and pavilion
   Benefactor: Devary Durrill Foundation
   Inscription: "Her stage is now silent. Yet, her persona enriched the lives of those she touched and her music lives on..."
  
  

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