For more than 25 years, giant blue whales swam across the side of a downtown Dallas building, an unlikely splash of ocean life in a landlocked Texas city that had become part of its identity.
Then last week, suddenly, the whales began to disappear.
The whales, which were painted by Wyland, the marine artist who typically goes by his last name, were an artistic fixture in the city until crews on forklifts started painting over it with blue paint ahead of the FIFA World Cup, making way for a new project to celebrate the coming tournament.
The mural’s erasure has stirred many emotions, particularly from Wyland, who said he was unaware that most of it would be covered.
“They’re destroying the integrity of the mural,” Wyland, 69, said on Monday. “This was a gift to the people in Dallas.”
The mural, “Ocean Life,” was one of 103 painted by Wyland, whose work can be found in countries including China and Cuba. The one in Dallas, which was dedicated on April 16, 1999, spanned two sides of the building, reaching 82 feet high and 164 feet long.
Wyland and the Wyland Foundation said they had filed a cease and desist letter as they assess what happened. But on Monday afternoon, only the upper corner of the original was left on one of the sides. The other side, on a smaller adjacent wall, was still intact.
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