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"Wow, all that hard work for nothing," said San Diego artist Brian Hebets when he heard that his prominent public mural in Imperial Beach had been painted over into a blank wall. "I heard it was receiving negative vibes down there and it was only a matter of time before this would happen."
"It's sad to see such a beautiful and impactful piece of art be painted over."
The mural's depiction of trash in the ocean led to complaints and ultimately to its removal from the side of a convenience store at 197 Palm Ave.
"We painted over the mural to create an opportunity to create a new one," said 7-Eleven spokesperson Dea Pennington.
Customer complaints and requests from city officials were the factors in the decision by the franchise owner of the 7-Eleven, Harjinder Singh, to pay to have it painted over, he said.
"A lot of people say they are tired of looking at the same trash," he said of the customer complaints.
"The mayor [Serge Dedina] loved it, that's why we kept it so long, but about the month ago the mayor said please take it off, we're getting a lot of complaints," said Singh. Dedina serves also as executive director of the Wildcoast environmental organization.
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