Loo Gallery

YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio - Call it Chagall in the stall, Picasso in the powder room.

Anyone who uses the public restrooms inside a replica of the 1880 train station in this southwest Ohio village will be treated to a display of original paintings on the walls.

Dubbed the ChamberPot Gallery, the exhibition that opened in mid-June is the brainchild of two local artists hoping to draw attention to this artist-oriented community and to lure into the village out-of-town hikers, bikers and joggers who use a bike path next to the station.

"For the most part, everybody has been very excited about this. They just think it's a hoot," said Corrine Bayraktaroglu, co-organizer of the restroom gallery. "And we're getting puns left, right and center - take a peek while you leak."

Some of the 19 works, mostly by local artists, are bathroom-themed, including a dress made of pink, blue and yellow tissues, and a person's face screaming out: "Got Paper?" Some paintings are abstract, and other subjects featured include an outhouse and a person blowing soap bubbles.