SAN ANTONIO – A West Side mural showcasing local musicians from different decades has been painted over and is no longer visible, a San Antonio Cultural Arts (SACA) official told KSAT on Thursday.
Keli Cabunoc-Romero, SACA’s development and engagement manager, said ‘La Música de San Anto’ was painted over without the nonprofit’s permission.
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The mural would highlight musicians such as Rocky Morales, Clifford Scott, and Randy Garibay.
Cabunoc-Romero said she learned the mural was gone on Feb. 27.
Further investigation led to Cabunoc-Romero finding out that David Blancas, the lead muralist in the original project, was the person who permitted the current building owner at 1303 West Commerce St. to paint over it.
According to Cabunoc-Romero, the building owner contacted Blancas because he felt the mural needed to be repainted.
While Blancas is connected to the piece, he allegedly told the owner that he would repaint over it with money he secured from sponsors. She said that this led to him replacing the mural with gray paint.
That’s when SACA contacted the owner to inform him that any decisions regarding the mural had been made by them, not Blancas.
She told KSAT that the owner “felt bad” about the misunderstanding and that his intentions were never to upset the community, as he plans to work with them to restore the art piece.
According to Cabunoc-Romero, Blancas asked them twice in 2019 and 2022 if he could “re-imagine” the mural, which meant completely redoing it.
However, the organization denied both of his requests, stating they only perform restoration of any murals, such as paint touch-ups, if there are any underlying issues or damage. She added that it is rare for them to need to redo a mural completely.
While the space is now empty, the plan is to gather the original muralists to repaint the piece. However, a community meeting will first be held to answer questions and provide context.
Cabunoc-Romero said that Blancas will not be a part of the mural’s future restoration.
KSAT reached out to Blancas for a comment but has not received a response.
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