Artist Preston Pannek painted over the ‘Please Send Help’ mural. Photo courtesy Preston Pannek.
The controversial Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic “Please Send Help” mural is gone.
The artwork on the St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin wall in Deep Ellum will be replaced with a new Luka Dončić piece created with an assist from the Slovenian-born superstar himself, artist Preston Pannek tells the Advocate.
“Dončić has a different message that he would like to send out, so we are going to collaborate together to bring back a new message on a new mural,” says Pannek, an East Dallas resident and Lake Highlands High School alumnus. “What I just sent you a picture of [above] is actually the old mural. We painted it black today.”
The black wall reads “Coming soon. This new mural is planned with the support of Luka Dončić. Brought to you by @houseofpannek and @lukadoncic. #MFFL [Mavs Fan For Life]”.
“The words are a message from Luka and I,” Pannek says. “Over the next day or two, Luka and I will be working on the new-design process.”
Related: Cuban criticizes ‘Please Send Help’ mural
The change comes on the heels of a discussion earlier this week with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who told Pannek the “send help” mural was “disrespectful.”
But it was not until Luka reached out that the Forest Hills resident decided to blackout his recently unveiled painting.
“I thought the whole reaction was really interesting,” Pannek says. “I think it got so much attention because sports personalities have been saying [that Dončić needs help on the court] for a while, for most of this season. But at the same time, the mural might have hurt some of the other Mavericks players, and I don’t want to do that.”
Pannek says that the message was not geared at players but at the front office.
“So that’s why the mural has come down and we’re gonna go at it with a different message. That’s really all I can say,” says Pannek, who explains that he is limited on what he can disclose about his discussion with Dončić due to a contract he has signed with the player’s people.
The new piece will be completed at Preston Pannek’s White Rock Lake area home, which he shares with his business partner and wife Adrienne Pannek. They own House of Pannek and Lash Loft and are known for their whimsical street murals and, of course, Moouis Vuitton.
“We’re gonna paint it here and then ship it to Deep Ellum, take the other one off the wall and replace it with this one,” he says. “We’re looking at a two week turnaround depending on weather.”
