With all the new murals here something to remember

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Few-Sir-8688@reddit

The City of Dallas doesn't give a high holy fuck what the tax payers think or want. Time and again they prove that YOU DONT MATTER. Your voice doesn't matter. Your well being doesn't matter. This city is not for you, you just live in it.

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surprised-duncan@reddit

So fucking glad I left

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lurkerlurking123@reddit

our mayor, our attorney general, our governor, they all are some of the worst people on the entire planet.

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Jackfruit_911@reddit

Here's an idea, FORT WORTH should have Wyland out to paint an exact copy of the mural somewhere in Fort Worth. WE ARE THE CITY OF THE OLD WEST. We are more TRUELY cultured than Plastic Dallas. With world-class Kimball museum and others - We are the museum Capitol of the southwest!

Shame on you Dallas for painting over that work of art - so typical Dallas

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HanginOn9114@reddit

I honestly don't care anymore. There is no way to win in the face of ultranationalist late stage capitalism. I will just try to keep my family afloat and find small moments of happiness. I can't care anymore.

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jffadvisors@reddit

1). TXU or one of its predecessor companies used to own that building. Not any more. The city or an angry mob cannot dictate to the current owner what to do with it

2) This picture is from when it was freshly done. It was extremely faded after 30 years of facing south in the Texas sun. It needed to either be repainted by Wyland or painted over

3) I agree that the owner should have reached out for a counter offer as the Wyland Foundation does have funds to repaint whaling walls

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Melonpan_Pup442@reddit

A mural for a sporting event that will not bring in the big numbers they think it will.

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gamecat89@reddit

And everyone will forget about in 2 years.

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MySixHourErection@reddit

Philly lost its Wyland several years ago. Yay progress

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Glueberry_Ryder@reddit

Fucking fifa man. Gonna come in and tear up the city and bounce. Would be a shame if someone defaced the ad with a bunch of whales.

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Soggy-Bedroom-3673@reddit

Incidentally, does anyone that has even a remote, passing interest in soccer not already know the world cup is coming to Dallas? Who are they advertising to?

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admiraljkb@reddit

Truthfully - I didn't know it was coming to Arlington until this mural travesty. Surprising, but true. But that it's over in Arlington, not Dallas area, it probably didn't register with me.

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Thegreatsrm@reddit

What’s crazy it’s in Arlington lol. Why paint over something half way across town

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VeryVino20@reddit

The FIFA fan zone and media hub are both at fair park

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Thegreatsrm@reddit

I’m very aware where it is. I’m going to several of the games. Doesn’t change the fact they’re in Arlington and a mural in Dallas didn’t need to be painted over for it.

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kesin@reddit

For what it’s worth the media hub for the wc is in Dallas itself. Still ridiculous.

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kesin@reddit

i mean even the most die hard soccer fans loathe fifa too lol

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Snobolski@reddit

People already know where to get a truck, and what kind of beer they like. Why are there so many truck and beer commercials during sportsball games on TV?

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BillHicksDied4UrSins@reddit

Seriously. And once World Cup is gone will they paint over it with a Crypto Ad or something equally bleak.

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melalovelady@reddit

I work downtown and the amount of road work they waited until the last minute to try and hustle and finish for the World Cup is absolutely killing me.

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YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit

i like how the dumbasses still haven't striped the lanes on Houston in front of the EBJ station

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InternalOpinion5410@reddit

I heard it will be completed this week

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Old_Entertainment234@reddit

These same dumbasses just stripped on Jefferson at loop 12 and completely messed up. Will be putting in a request here later today.

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RelativeCheesecake88@reddit

Is this supposed to be downtown Dallas? I’m sorry, we don’t watch news so only know it’s coming to this area? If they tore streets up downtown D, that sure stirs up the mice that live under those streets. Lol they all run inside

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zHydro@reddit

i've been driving over the same shit downtown roads for 2 years. my right rear strut has gone out.

but a couple week ago they started repairing it. that's crazy.

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txjoe95@reddit

Soccer Sucks! Whales are cooler than kicking a ball around a field and never scoring!

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msixtwofive@reddit

Lol you think FIFA did this? Your city hosting committee did this.

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RelativeCheesecake88@reddit

That’s a great idea! I’m not a painter but I would volunteer for Gatorade and water duties if something gets organized. I’ll pass out sandwiches and protein bars!

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86Sliva94@reddit

Fuck Fifa why not find a blank wall or billboard ? Fifa is only temporary this painting been here since 99!

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melalovelady@reddit

Yeah. Replace that big ass iPhone advert on one of the buildings I can’t think of the name on now.

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quetzalcoatlus1453@reddit

All the more reason to keep my fingers crossed that the World Cup will be a financial flop

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EclecticSheep2@reddit

I only heard this referred to as the "Whale-ing Wall"

Good to know the actual history of it, and sad to see it overtaken by capitalism

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lurkerlurking123@reddit

the blue paint over was promised to us 3k years ago

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Unhappy-Display-2588@reddit

🙄

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Akgrinder@reddit

he made a whaling wall mural in anchorage, ak too

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djporter91@reddit

Funny, they probably complained capitalism is what put it up.

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YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit

Reading Wilonsky's article, apparently Wyland did it in a week? God damn, I mean I guess that's why he's a professional muralist but that's damn quick

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Klutzy-Concentrate83@reddit

Wilonsky is just so good at writing about the history of Dallas.

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johnnyclash42@reddit

He’s an absolute gift to this town. Has been for a long time. So is John Slate if - you’re not familiar he’s our city archivist. He’s published some cool historical stuff about Dallas and Texas as well, and has worked with Bruce Lee Webb of the Webb Gallery. All great Texan historians who do a lot for us for damn near zero recognition.

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gizmo1024@reddit

He did on at the South Padre Island Convention Center that’s worth checking out

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hyst0rica1_29@reddit

Could be worse: you could be living down here in San Antonio where the goobers that run the joint regularly obliterate local landmarks to put up a Starbucks as THE means to one-up Dallas.

Seriously, this town’s leadership figures if we just had a ____, that would put us over H-town & you guys.

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StroodleNoodles@reddit

Names of who approved this? We need to remove them from office.

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NuckyMunch@reddit

https://www.dallasfwc26.com/home/our-team/

FGIII FINEART PRODUCTIONS

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Icy_Bottle2763@reddit

Dallas, and Texas in general, has some of the lowest voter turnout in the US which leads to things like this. Large scale voter mobilization for every election (even the local ones) is the first step unfortunately. It sucks to see this at the same time they're discussing demolishing City Hall for a casino too

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fredaklein@reddit

I’m boycotting FIFA. Played & followed soccer for almost 50 years, but the criminals and imbeciles in FIFA have trashed it.

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werewolfeatpant@reddit

It’s so dumb, I don’t know anyone who lives in Dallas that actually cares about soccer. And I’ve been here my whole life.

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satanicmajesty@reddit

The mural was super faded and old, and no longer looked like the picture shown above. I would understand the outrage if it still looked good, but it didn’t. I don’t watch soccer and I don’t care about FIFA or the World Cup, but it’s the most watched sporting event around the world, and we’re expecting 8M people to come into our city for that event alone. I think many people are overreacting. You don’t know what the new mural will look like yet.

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tristand666@reddit

The artist said it was in good shape and just needed a cleaning and some touch ups. You are just making assumptions here.

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satanicmajesty@reddit

I don’t want to get in an argument here, and this is not directed at you, but if the artist had cared, he would’ve come down here to touch it up or repaint it 10 years ago. I see this mural all the time, and it is not in good shape, and it doesn’t look good anymore. It’s decrepit now. The outrage would’ve been good 5 years ago, even 6 months ago, to touch it up and restore it…it’s kinda too late.

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MesonoxianMuse@reddit

Why wouldn’t they just put a print ad over it?

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Homey-Airport-Int@reddit

A mural painted in 1999 is not history.

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NJB9891@reddit

Prepare for an onslaught of downvotes, despite the fact that you’re absolutely correct.

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Yarusenai@reddit

By what metric? History is history. Yesterday is history. Almost 30 years ago is certainly history.

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Homey-Airport-Int@reddit

Being history does not mean historic. A house in Dallas built in 1996 is not a historic house on its face. Murals rarely last.

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ofWildPlaces@reddit

You are not the one that gets to decide the age of history,

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DubyaKayOh@reddit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Whaling_Walls

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Homey-Airport-Int@reddit

Notice how many of those on the list have been repainted or are bound to fade as nobody is going to maintain them. Some just repainted, if someone repaints it it'll stay on the list anyway. Murals never last.

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bratbats@reddit

All paintings were, at one point, 30 years old. Should they have just destroyed all of them after that time, due to them not being, by your metrics, historical?

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Homey-Airport-Int@reddit

It's a mural. They're repainted all the time. Not the same as a painting on canvas. The Taylor Swift Billie Eilish mural ain't gonna last either.

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NJB9891@reddit

See?

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Wafflehouseofpain@reddit

It’s nearly 30 years old. That’s historical at that point.

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YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit

shoot, that makes me ancient history

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sadegr@reddit

If it's cool to trash things after 25 or 30 years cause that's not "historical", you NEVER GET SHIT THATS OLDER or more historical.

I get it, we're moving from late stage capitalism into terminal, end stage capitalism. Everything is disposable, nothing is sacrosanct... but people complain we have no history and actively shit on the idea of preserving anything... I'm fed up with excusing the cognitive dissonance that's ruining everything.

I liked those whales.

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Ok_Doughnut_2298@reddit

It is for Dallas though

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12VoltGuardianAngel@reddit

Fuck FIFA. There should be protests on every overpass for their time here. Not just for this wall, but as a whole FIFA is a destructive force.

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White-milk@reddit

FUCK FIFA

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New-Worldliness5163@reddit

I've never heard a person in my life care about this mural until they decided to paint over it. It's not even a sought after attraction in the city.

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ManitouWakinyan@reddit

Something can be valuable and appreciated without people standing around gawking about it or slipping it into cocktail conversations.

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New-Worldliness5163@reddit

Now it’s time to appreciate something else. It wasn’t supposed to be there for ever

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ManitouWakinyan@reddit

I mean, it wasn't supposed to be replaced with an ad

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New-Worldliness5163@reddit

I think more people will talk about the World Cup being in Dallas than the Ocean Mural.

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bratbats@reddit

Nobody gives a fuck about soccer, Dallas is only doing all of this to appeal to the tourists they're going to get because they're in a massive city budget deficit and need the sweet sweet revenue.

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New-Worldliness5163@reddit

So it’s bad for them to appeal to tourists for a Global event that Dallas is apart of?

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guptroop@reddit

World Cup was in Dallas in 94. No one was talking about it.

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New-Worldliness5163@reddit

Since the lead up to the World Cup, I've only heard people talk about how they went to games at the Cotton Bowl when it was in Dallas

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guptroop@reddit

Right. Since the lead up. Not before.

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New-Worldliness5163@reddit

since the lead up to this World Cup*

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ManitouWakinyan@reddit

And none of them will be talking about the ad for it

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indigoC99@reddit

It could have been turned into more art but instead it's an ad

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Glueberry_Ryder@reddit

No it’s not the Mona Lisa but it added delightful character to the city. There’s art everywhere in Dallas. This was one of the coolest and my kids favorite. We always assumed it was a nod to the aquarium down the street.

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alkzy@reddit

They’re really painting over this art?!

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friskevision@reddit

It’s definitely being painted over. I drove by it yesterday. I get people saying we should’ve kept the mural, I agree, but, it was seriously faded and needed retouching.

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Melonpan_Pup442@reddit

He was planning in coming back to touch it up.

https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/dallas-covers-downtown-whale-wall-mural-for-world-cup-40674801/

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James-the-Bond-one@reddit

Maybe he can return to paint a new one, after the FIFA ad ages out?

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JokersGlascowSmile@reddit

Given what Dallas did to the first one, I’m sure he’d be disinclined to come back to paint another one.

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omgfloofy@reddit

Considering that Wyland's exploring legal action against the city for it, I agree. He probably won't paint another one for the city.

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James-the-Bond-one@reddit

Well, Dallas allowed it to age and fade for almost 3 decades, so it wasn't too bad.

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satanicmajesty@reddit

It’s not an ad, it’s a new mural

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lpalf@reddit

It might be a mural but it’s also a fifa ad

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indigoC99@reddit

The fact that they let it get that faded is exactly the lack care for art that OP in the picture was talking about.

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komark-@reddit

I mean maybe I’m being insensitive… but the text in OPs post says “lack of interest in preserving history” and personally I really don’t think something younger than me should be considered historic.

There are a shit load of murals all over town - I’m sure some even older than this one.

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ofWildPlaces@reddit

Your personal age is not the deciding factor as to what is historic.

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NothingButTheTea@reddit

What a way of calling yourself insignificant.

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Fuzea@reddit

Age has nothing to do with historic or cultural value. One World Trade Center is younger than I am but it is still a historic landmark.

This artwork represented a global commitment to marine conservation. It was at one point the largest public artwork in the city. It has historical value and is needlessly being painted over. They’ve used non-damaging means of covering up the artwork before, there’s no reason they couldn’t have done the same in this instance.

This is the equivalent of melting down the Nolan Ryan statue at globe life field to put up a temporary display for Mbappe. It’s just completely unnecessary.

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Sea-Jackfruit-9472@reddit

If you don’t preserve history in the present day then it’s not around to be historic later.

Your statement “I don’t think something younger than me should be considered historic” could have been said at some point in history for literally any historical artifact/site/thing

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PrincessAngieB@reddit

Yeah but if we never take the time to preserve things even if they are "young" then how do we expect them to stay around long enough to become historic?? Dallas has a chronic issue of tearing down old things to build new over it, just look at the whole City Hall debacle.

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SparkaCat@reddit

Who approved this? I loved the whale mural. :(

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GoScotch@reddit

Can’t build public transit out to the stadium for games but can paint over historic murals 👍

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gearpitch@reddit

That's on Arlington, not the city of dallas. They refuse transit, nothing dallas can do

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RubAnADUB@reddit

well whoever owns the property can paint whatever they want.

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yeahwhuteva@reddit

Dallas is kind of fucking awful

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VallettaAwoo@reddit

i hate FIFA and the disgusting rats who run it

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avschmidt63@reddit

Remember, it was badly faded. Paint doesn’t last. After FIFA, it could be redone even better than before.

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tristand666@reddit

The artist made a comment on this and said it was in fine shape, but needed a good cleaning and a few touch ups.

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James-the-Bond-one@reddit

Let's hope so. With official sponsorship of the same artist.

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sealclubberfan@reddit

Why couldnt the put up a temporary wall to preserve that, and just take down the wall with the fifa mural once the wo4ld cup was over?

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Able-Presentation902@reddit

They don’t care about the history because they all come from California. Wish they would go back

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Tremulant887@reddit

Quick reminder that hardware store sell discounted paint where the color didn't come out the way they wanted it. Cheap buckets of paint.

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Agreeable_Papaya8365@reddit

Feels like cities always trade character for quick money

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Then_Supermarket18@reddit

The whales of our youth are gone forever.

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djporter91@reddit

Bet 75% of this sub just found out what it was this week

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lpalf@reddit

No, many of us actually pay attention to our surroundings

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Upstairs_Balance_464@reddit

Anyone upset about this that supports knocking down City Hall is a hypocrite.

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lpalf@reddit

10000000% and both suck ass

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lpalf@reddit

Dallas is such a fucking shithole man

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Specific-Stop-4591@reddit

People say dallas lacks a culture. It doesnt. The culture is money. Whatever makes sense at this moment now to gain the most dollars. The sooner we realize thats our culture the sooner we can figure out how to address it.

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Grouchy-Pool5441@reddit

Fuckin trans plants😡

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ItsYaGirlConfusion@reddit

This breaks my heart and ruined an archive of my childhood. F*ck Dallas politics.

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great1nono@reddit

That sucks. I remember my son looking up and saying it was really cool when he was a toddler. He hates ads because of youtube. So im sure he would hate it. Im not going to tell him about it either. Fuck aggressive youtube ads though I can't wait for them to have serious competition.

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Mindful_Rager@reddit

Wait. THAT’S what they are putting over it?! They couldn’t just print it and put up a temporary mural? We don’t want see the fifa crap after fifa is done and gone this summer. They might as well paint on all the works and pottery in the museum downtown with soccer balls.

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TheHoundmaster@reddit

Those bastards better not lay a FINGER on “Don’t Mess With Tex-Mex” across the street or I will come down there!

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Solomonopolistadt@reddit

It's like this city can't have any soul whatsoever

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WyldFlowerWyldFire@reddit

I wouldn’t be too upset. Wyland also painted a mural in Taiji, Japan where they slaughter hundreds dolphins or steal them from the wild to sell them to marine parks every year. He’s not exactly a moral advocate for sea life no matter if his paintings are iconic.

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WizardofEarthSea91@reddit

Is this the same Dallas that talking about knocking down city hall for a basketball arena?

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HugePurpleNipples@reddit

It's so obvious how corrupt and incorrect our world is and we just sit and watch.

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TR_Griff@reddit

Sounds like they're asking for the ad to be defaced.

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BearWithHat@reddit

Is it being painted over or just covered? Fairly sure it's been covered before

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Dick_Lazer@reddit

They were out there with paint rollers and blue paint.

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ManitouWakinyan@reddit

“We were pretty upset. We still are. This mural is iconic, and public art is for the community. This was a gift to the city of Dallas,” Wyland told the Observer on Thursday. “This is permanent. They’ve destroyed it.”

https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/dallas-covers-downtown-whale-wall-mural-for-world-cup-40674801/

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Aware_Growth_6643@reddit

Best of luck to his legal team.

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YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit

They are at least keeping the northern portion so there's that. But yeah, per the article, he might have a claim under that Visual Artists Rights Act.

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Mav21Fo@reddit

This is correct. People like being outraged lol

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ChicagoRay312@reddit

It’s being painted. I live downtown.

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jabdtx@reddit

You should have put on a whale costume and stopped them.

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yeahright17@reddit

The picture yesterday was of a guy with a paint roller on a lift. Pretty sure it's being painted.

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BearWithHat@reddit

Dallas gonna dallas

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MarkTwang-@reddit

It can be covered, but it’s unfortunately being re-painted.

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Dick_Lazer@reddit

Seems like they could've preserved it too, like maybe some some of fabric overlay that could be removed after the event is over.

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hullowurld@reddit

let's get the jennifer aniston smartwater ad back while we're at it

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GjallahornR@reddit

Did they bring it down? I saw it yesterday on 35E

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hullowurld@reddit

There used to be a giant one downtown

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YaGetSkeeted0n@reddit

put it on city hall

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GjallahornR@reddit

Plastic lives matter! /s

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FiredUpMan777@reddit

Save the whales!

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dolph_land@reddit

good it never made sense. the nearest ocean is 300 miles away

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ArtOfWarlick@reddit

It's literally an art piece designed to raise ocean awareness in land-locked regions, but go off fam.

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dolph_land@reddit

how even do you use aave and valley girl in the same sentence? what are you?

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cbuech@reddit

Don’t even THINK about the ocean unless you can see it!!

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GlempyLempist@reddit

“We look 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 this summer.”

Jesus christ, the PR-speak is insulting.

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PlantFreak77@reddit

I’ve loved driving past this gorgeous painting every time we go to the Y downtown, since 2018! It’s fuccin sad to see this covered up.

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tailskirby@reddit

Figures Dallas would do this considering who the mayor is.

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rat_penis@reddit

Dallas always has been and always be a business town first and foremost.

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TylerBisel@reddit

Curse the FIFART and save the whales

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OrangeTrees1974@reddit

This is terrible. Zero reason to do this whatsoever. Whoever agreed to paint over this mural should be voted out ASAP. Disgraceful

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eirollam@reddit

This makes my heart hurt. I was obsessed with whales when I was younger, and I was always on the lookout for Wyland walls when I traveled. So when I moved to Dallas a few years ago, I was elated to find one downtown and would run by it every chance I got. I don’t live there anymore, but learning about this made me so sad for the city and for public art.

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tdog00@reddit

god i hate capitalism but part of me relishes knowing things are going to get so bad and i get to say i told you so

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cbuech@reddit

What a fucking waste. Been there 27 years and getting painted over for the World Cup. I myself am a huge soccer fan but those whole way fifa has gone about this and price gouging has been a middle finger to average fans

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MrTacocaT12345@reddit

I was informed by a council member on next door that the owner of the building sold the wall space to FIFA. It had nothing to do with the city of Dallas.

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foxontherox@reddit

For a FIFA AD??

Just end me now. 😭

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