I’m not being a harsh critic here, that’s actually what the good people of Cowell on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula call it themselves, and it’s just another example of small town ingenuity with a huge dose of humour thrown in.

I stumbled across this quirky gallery during a quick visit to the local amenities in town, which you access by wandering down a well-tended walkway next to the town hall.

You pass under a greenery covered arbour and before entering the ablutions you are greeted with the sign, ’Welcome to Cowell’s famous Crap Art’. Definitely intriguing and worth visiting for a look.

Inside the building you are surrounded by a gallery of art from the Cowell Art Group members. Each of the small paintings have a plastic bag and note attached to the bottom of the frame, which has the artist’s name, title of the painting and cost.

The note also reads, ‘You are welcome to purchase our art. Place the money in this bag…please put in the black box outside the Ladies toilet. Thank you for your honesty’.

There’s even an explanation in the loos of how this idea came about, when in 2009 members of the art group were placing flowers in the toilets and thought of displaying some of their art for sale as well. From this, ‘Crap Art’ was born.

They do stress though that it’s only a play on words and the art is actually good! And another tip, is to look for more art in the loos at the Franklin Harbour Hotel.

The art group have certainly achieved their goal of bringing a bit of joy and laughter to visitors, while making money for the art group, well done.

Cheers

Glenys