told FOX 4<\/a> after a North Texas FIFA committee member claimed they had contacted him about replacing the artwork for this summer\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\nArtist Wyland\u2019s iconic \u201cOcean Life\u201d mural in downtown Dallas was painted over ahead of the 2026 World Cup. CBS Texas<\/p>\n
Wyland called out FIFA and Dallas officials over claims they sought his permission to replace his mural. CBS Texas<\/p>\n
\u201cThey picked the wrong artist, I can tell you that. I am going to go after them and go after them hard. I am going to ask the community of Dallas to stay with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mural, created in 1999, stretched across an 82-foot-high, 164-foot-wide wall in downtown Dallas and featured six humpback whales swimming through deep blue water.<\/p>\n
Wyland, whose large-scale marine life murals appear in cities across the US, said the artwork was meant to raise awareness about environmental damage caused by major metropolitan areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, it just looks like a beautiful painting of whales,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than that. It is really deep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wyland poses in front of his whale painting at the Port Authority tunnel, New York City, June 13, 2000. New York Post<\/p>\n
The mural was painted over as FIFA prepares to unveil a new World Cup-themed artwork in Dallas, one of the host cities for this summer\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to unveiling a new piece that captures the current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026 this summer,\u201d FIFA said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Wyland disputed suggestions that he had approved the change, insisting that no one connected to FIFA, the city, or the building ownership group had received permission from him or his Wyland Foundation.<\/p>\n
The artist also warned the move could spark wider concerns about the protection of public art under the federal Visual Artists Rights Act, which can give artists legal standing when their work is destroyed or altered.<\/p>\n
Texas native Kacey Musgraves blasted the decision to paint over the Dallas mural: \u201cWe suck the soul out of everything.\u201d Richard Lui \/ The Desert Sun, USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Content Services, LLC<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they can get away with it, then all the public art in Dallas and all the public art in America is at risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wyland said he believes the mural was worth roughly $15 million, but that any money from a potential settlement would be donated to communities, conservation efforts and school art programs.<\/p>\n
Musgraves, a Texas native, amplified outrage over the move after sharing a report on the mural\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis makes me really sad,\u201d she wrote in an Instagram Story. \u201cWe suck the soul out of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dallas is set to host nine matches during the 2026 World Cup at AT&T Stadium. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Dallas will host nine World Cup matches<\/a> during the tournament at AT&T Stadium, which will temporarily be renamed \u201cDallas Stadium\u201d under FIFA rules.<\/p>\nBut as the city prepares for one of the biggest sporting events in the world, Wyland said the loss of the mural will not be forgotten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to protect the other art in Dallas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A conservation artist has blasted FIFA and Dallas decision-makers who painted over his iconic whale mural ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":802407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1037,1596,157167,52716,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,105860],"class_list":{"0":"post-802406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-art","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-kacey-musgraves","12":"tag-murals","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-us-news","25":"tag-usa","26":"tag-world-cup-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116588819731692697","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}