{"id":300307,"date":"2026-05-19T21:35:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/300307\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T21:35:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:35:33","slug":"iconic-whale-mural-in-dallas-painted-over-for-fifa-related-branding-ahead-of-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/300307\/","title":{"rendered":"Iconic Whale Mural In Dallas Painted Over For FIFA-Related Branding Ahead Of World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A massive, iconic mural in downtown Dallas by the artist Wyland has been painted over to make way for World Cup branding, prompting anger in the community and a whole lot of finger pointing among those responsible for the decision.<\/p>\n

From 1999 until sometime last week, an 82-foot-high, 164-foot-long pod of whales adorned the side of the building<\/a> at 505 N. Akard Street in downtown Dallas.<\/p>\n

Wyland told Fox4News<\/a> he painted aquatic scenes in landlocked cities across the country as a means to draw attention to how metropolitan areas affect ecosystems downstream.<\/p>\n

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Any claim Dallas or FIFA sought his permission before slathering it over is \u201ca lie with a capital L,\u201d he told the station. \u201cThey had all these walls. There\u2019s so many great walls to paint. Pick a wall that\u2019s not part of Dallas\u2019 public history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in the news: Kevin Warsh Is One Step Closer To Top Job At The Fed After Trump’s Pick Approved By Senate Committee<\/a><\/p>\n

The North Texas Fifa World Cup Organizing Committee said in a statement it has \u201cgreat respect for Wyland\u2019s legacy,\u201d and as such, decided to leave a small portion of the mural it had yet to obscure uncovered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to unveiling a new piece that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit\u201d surrounding World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIs that supposed to make me feel better?\u201d Wyland said in a separate interview with KERA news<\/a>. \u201cThey destroyed like 80% of the mural, and they’re going to paint something that has nothing to do with conservation, which is what the mural was intended for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political UpdatesThis article<\/a> originally appeared on HuffPost. Support fearless, unflinching journalism that holds power accountable and relentlessly pursues the truth. Become a HuffPost member today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost. A massive, iconic mural in downtown Dallas by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,109,109086,109087,3692],"class_list":["post-300307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-downtown-dallas","tag-huffpost","tag-independent-journalism","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300307","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=300307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}