Outhouses are found at nearly every boating and fishing access point along the Salmon River. These restrooms will now be both functional and works of art.
That’s because seven outhouses between Challis and North Fork have been revamped by local artists. The paintings will feature renderings of native plants and animals in the area.
The Challis Arts Council was approached by Idaho Fish and Game to lead the project, with the goal of beautifying the outhouses to decrease vandalism on the structures.
Melissa Perkins Fitzgerald, who is with the Challis Arts Council, says, “I hope that it remains true because in some of them I know a lot of people spent a lot of time and effort in creating their works of art."
Fitzgerald says the art installations also serve as helpful landmarks for travelers along the Salmon River.
"People identify, 'Oh! Well, that outhouse looks like this so we must be here,'” says Fitzgerald.
Local students pitched in to create the paintings, just in time for rafters to make their way on the stretch of water this summer.
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