Austin Selena mural taken down less than a day after it was created

A Selena mural that was painted in downtown Austin was taken down less than 24 hours after it was created.

The commissioned mural was placed on a wall at Mala Vida, a bar on Austin’s iconic Sixth Street, by award-winning Dallas artists Jeremy Biggers and Hatziel Flores. The mural features a photo of Selena on a purple background with the words “Baila Esta Cumbia”, the title of the late Queen of Cumbia’s 1990 hit song.

Less than a day after it was painted it was taken down by the business owner because the venue did not have proper permits or permission, according to a statement.

Photo: Facebook / Vannia Gonzalez de Perez

“We want to clarify the situation with the Selena mural at Mala Vida (at the Gatsby),” the venue posted on their Facebook page. “We wanted to surprise Selena-loving SXSW fans with an overnight mural, but we did not have the proper permits or permission and had to remove it.”

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The mural will be painted once again but at a different Austin location.

“The good news: the same artist (Jeremy Biggers) is willing to relocate the mural to Gabriela’s where it will live por vida,” the statement said.

Biggers has created other Selena murals including one located at Top Ten Records in Dallas, Texas.

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A year ago during a podcast I told the good people at @decoloresco I wanted to paint a mural of Selena in Oak Cliff and preferably off Jefferson. They told me, don’t worry, we’ll find you a wall. A year later they reached back out asking if I still wanted to do the mural. “Uh, yeah! Of course.” “How much would you charge?” They asked. “Nothing” “Nothing?!?” They responded. “Yup, nothing.” It was important to me to give my time and skillset as a gift to a people who do nothing but give. This community is beautiful, and so rich in history, I wanted to give them something back instead of the trend of gentrification that’s taking so much from the area. Oak Cliff, this is my gift to you! The mural is located on the side of Top Ten Records at Jefferson and Bishop. Go check it out. Take pictures. Tag me.

A post shared by Jeremy Biggers| Artist | Video (@stemandthorn) on Apr 4, 2018 at 9:50pm PDT