In downtown Dallas, a giant mural of swimming whales that had become familiar to passers-by has been covered up as preparations for the World Cup accelerated, drawing protests and online appeals from people who say the artwork had served as local history as much as decoration. The mural, described by the artist as spanning two entire walls of a parking garage, had been on the site for decades and was being replaced with art tied to the tournament set to begin this summer.
Katy Rose Cusick, a student who said she saw the mural nearly every day on her way to school, described the change as abrupt. Cusick said, “I see that mural almost every day on my way to school and then one day they were painting it over,” adding that it was “just so incredibly shocking to me that that could happen so quickly.”
The AP reported that work to paint over the mural was underway during May, with officials and stakeholders framing the change as part of the World Cup-driven transformation of the area. The artist who created the mural, Wyland, said in a statement that the replacement left him deeply upset and that he believed the mural had been erased without dialogue.
Wyland told AP that the effort to cover the mural “has left him “deeply disheartened.” In his statement, he said, “When a piece that has carried meaning for generations can be erased without dialogue, it raises serious questions about how we value public art, artists, and the communities these works were created to serve,” AP reported.
Along with Cusick, two seniors at a local performing and visual arts high school, Joshua Hurston and Cusick, started a Change.org petition to raise awareness and seek protection for the mural. Hurston said, “If we couldn’t save necessarily the mural, making sure that something like this doesn’t happen again,” reflecting a concern that residents had not been given enough time or opportunity to respond as the replacement proceeded.
Officials associated with the World Cup organizing effort responded to the complaints, saying they were preparing to unveil new artwork for the tournament and that some of Wyland’s whale mural would remain. In a statement, a spokesperson for the organizing committee said they were looking forward to “unveiling a new piece that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026,” while adding that a “portion” of Wyland’s mural would be preserved “as a tribute to its lasting impact on the city.”
The AP report also traced how the mural’s site was handled among local stakeholders and the World Cup organizers. Downtown Dallas Inc. said it was involved in early discussions about the mural and confirmed it was not part of the city’s public art collection before introducing the World Cup organizing committee to the building’s owners. A spokesperson for the owners, Slate Asset Management, said they were approached by Downtown Dallas Inc. and the organizing committee earlier this year about donating the wall for a new public art installation by a local artist.
The mural in question, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was dedicated in 1999. Wyland, whose conservation-focused work includes painting more than 100 similar “Whaling Walls” worldwide, said the piece had been part of his broader effort—alongside the Wyland Foundation—to bring people together to protect ocean life and clean water, AP reported.