Artist Wyland sues FIFA for $25 million over Dallas mural

Artist Robert Wyland has filed a $25 million federal lawsuit against FIFA and several other entities after his large-scale whale mural in downtown Dallas was painted over last month to make way for promotional artwork for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Dallas, alleges the defendants destroyed a civic landmark without the artist's consent or notification.

The mural, titled "Whaling Wall 82," was painted by Wyland in 1999 and covered approximately 17,000 square feet across two walls of a building. It depicted life-sized swimming whales and was part of the artist's global "Whaling Walls" series, a project of over 100 murals created between 1981 and 2008 to promote ocean conservation. The artwork had been a visible fixture in the city for nearly three decades.

According to the complaint, the defendants, which include world football's governing body FIFA, the building's owner, and its management company, "hastily and irrevocably destroyed" the mural as part of preparations for the World Cup. Wyland alleges the action violates the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of 1990, a federal law that protects publicly displayed artwork of "recognized...