Famed Whale Mural Becomes a Memory in Laguna Beach

In a graphic illustration of what can happen when art, politics and economics collide, it took just a few fast brush strokes Wednesday to destroy what a painter had created and given to the world.

The famous “Whaling Wall” by artist Robert Wyland is no more.

The two whales--a mother and calf that for 15 years were depicted cruising the Pacific in a background of blue--were covered over with white paint by painters hired by a hotel operator who wants to expand his operation and considered the 130-foot-high mural an eyesore.

It was the first of 67 ocean murals Wyland has painted across the nation and world, with help from volunteers, as well as corporate and private donations. His local works include murals in Redondo Beach and Hollywood, and a 116,000-square-foot painting on the Long Beach Convention Center that is said to be the world’s largest mural.

“Where did it go?” asked Deanne Holford, 37, of Lake Forest, as she viewed the freshly painted Laguna Beach wall Wednesday. “That’s like an artifact of Laguna Beach history. That’s sad.”

Holford joined other surprised people who walked by and noticed that something had changed along Pacific Coast Highway.

In a desperate move to save the mural, Wyland had paid $1 million for the property he believed included the wall. But he found out too late that the wall actually belonged to the Hotel Laguna.

Wyland then took his battle to City Hall, but the City Council in April concluded that the wall owner’s property rights prevailed over efforts to maintain what had become a cultural symbol.

Claes Anderson, who leases and operates Hotel Laguna, refused comment on the mural Wednesday. ‘

He had told the council he believed that the mural, with life-size figures, was so chipped and weathered that is had become an eyesore.

But Wyland, 40, had hoped to restore the wall, which helped launch a career that has made him internationally known.

In the place of Wyland’s mural, Anderson intends to paint the wall a cream shade with terra-cotta trim.

Wyland vows to create a similar mural next to the one that has been painted over. The new mural will go up on his own property and will be crafted from hand-painted tiles.

“First and foremost, it will be permanent,” he said from his home in Hawaii.

Upon hearing that his work had indeed been whited out Wednesday, Wyland said he was upset. “That was my first mural and I made a promise to do 100 around the world,” he said.