Brandon Shaw Memorial

Sculptor: Completed by Austin artist Alejandro Neiri and designed by UT architecture graduate Julia Abbott Donor: Students and friends of Brandon Shaw Location: The courtyard in Goldsmith Hall of the School of Architecture Inscription: "Brandon Shaw 1976-1997" written on the plaque inside of the box.

Brandon Shaw, 20, was a UT architecture student who was murdered along with UT graduate Juan Cotero, 25. On July 2, 1997, their bodies were found in Shaw's Volvo which had been submerged in Town Lake. They were carjacking victims who were bound at the wrists and placed in the trunk of the car. Both died by drowning. The hole on top of the steel box is positioned so that at 1:20 p.m. every July 2 (solar noon) the sun will illuminate the plaque inside. The idea for the sculpture was created by fellow architecture students and friends of Shaw. Students raised money for the memorial through donations from Shaw's family, community members, and a benefit concert. At the dedication, his father, Brewster Shaw was impressed that "his friends thought so much about him to do this" and his mother, Kathy Shaw wanted students to remember Shaw's "joys and not his sorrows" when they pass by the memorial.