AUSTIN, Texas β Austin seriously loves murals.
But now, a mural of Selena that could have joined the ranks of iconic Austin building art is gone.
The mural was painted on a building at the intersection of I-35 and Sixth Street.
"It breaks my heart, it really does," Jennfer Willemsen, an avid Selena fan, said.
Willemsen didn't even get to take a picture of the mural because it was taken down so quickly.
"I'm very disappointed it was taken down," she said.
Itβs the same heartbreak for Megan Minasi, who saw the mural before it was complete.
"This city is covered in a whole bunch of art, and it's sad that they did that and it got covered immediately," Minasi said.
The mural took Dallas-based artists Jeremy Biggers and Hatziel Flores about two days to paint β just so it could be gone the next day.
"We were on the road after we were done and an hour after we finished, we got the news that it had to come down." Biggers said. "To see it's not there, it's a kick in the gut, for sure."
Because the portrait was painted on a historic building, it had to come down.
"I'm very upset and saddened by it," Gabriela Bucio, who manages the site where the mural was painted, said. "I've been in tears most of the day because it's very sad."
The place where the mural was painted is called Mala Vida. Itβs a new bar in Downtown Austin with an emphasis on Latin music.
"The problem is we didn't get to ask for permission from the landlord, so that's where we messed up," Bucio said.
Taking down the Selena mural is a lesson learned for the tenants.
"People invested money and time into it," Minasi said. "I wish they could have known something like that was going to happen."
The only thing left behind from the mural is a slight tint of purple. And "fotos y recuerdos" ("pictures and memories") from the short time it was up.
"You all did a wonderful artwork," Willemsen said. "I hope you can express that artwork again."
