Commodes for a Cause: PHS participates in toilet painting contest for World Toilet Day

Ari Collins
eSomethin staff

There are approximately 3.6 billion people on the planet who do not have access to safe, functioning toilets or proper sanitation. The lack of functioning toilets causes poor sanitation and hygiene across the board.

According to the World Toilet Organization, over 800 children under five die each day due to the improper sanitation and contaminated water. There are schools without soap, clean water and safe toilets. There are over 4.2 billion people who have little or no access to safe, uncontaminated water.

World Toilet Day, Nov. 19, aims to bring urgency to these people and the struggle they shouldn’t have to face.

Perrysburg High School students are participating in a toilet painting contest, put on by local business Waterhouse, to raise money for World Toilet Day.

Amy Siders, showroom manager at Waterhouse, started the contest last year when she discovered World Toilet Day and the need for sanitation and functioning toilets worldwide. Because the original contest was successful in raising money and bringing a community of artists together, she has decided to host it again.

The artists

Siders knew, by May, that there would be ten toilets available for decoration, by virtue of bathroom company LAUFEN. She then began reaching out to artists in the Toledo area.

The mural, located downtown, inspires those who see it to think about the power of water. Burton’s design came to life when he and Reyes began painting in June. (Photo: Amy Siders)

“There were a couple people I knew I wanted to have involved,” Siders said. She immediately mentioned Toledo artists Terry Burton and Yvette Reyes, who worked on the Waterhouse mural in Perrysburg.

Siders is also fascinated by the Glass City River Wall mural in Toledo. She said that she “just kind of went down the list of all of the artists that were involved in that, and was lucky enough to get [Chris] Chilly Rodriguez and Kodi Klocinski.”

Other artists in the area stepped up as well, like Lisa Huckabaa, Greg Justus and Dan Michelsen. Siders also recruited some student artists: one team from Ottawa Hills and a team from PHS, led by art teacher Candra Boggs.

Perrysburg’s toilet entry, close up. (Photo: Ari Collins)

Perrysburg’s Entry

When thinking about the project, Boggs wanted to make the toilet look very grand and royal. She asked students in her classes to bring in small trinkets to glue to the toilet, which would then be painted with gold paint, creating a throne-like visual.

Taqwa Arif poses beside the toilet and its dainty centerpiece. Arif was asked to create a painting for the contest and could not turn the offer down. “I just really wanted to create this happy, almost other-worldly landscape with all these super bright colors, just to convey the sort of craziness of it almost,” Arif said. (Photo: Taqwa Arif)

Boggs also challenged junior Taqwa Arif to create a landscape painting for the center of the toilet.

After hearing the idea, Arif said that she was immediately on board. She wanted to create a peaceful scene with elements of chaos.

The toilet is symbolic on two levels: a representation of the luxury that sanitation has wrongfully become, and a message that conveys the need for changing the world’s standards. “You don’t have to be wealthy or rich, or be well off, to have proper sanitation,” Boggs said.

Perrysburg aims to prove that sanitation shouldn’t be fancy; it is a necessity and a right.

What now?

Now that all of the toilets are finished and displayed, Siders encourages the community to vote for their favorite.

Toilets painted by Yvette Reyes, Lisa Huckabaa and Terry Burton.
(Photo: Ari Collins)

Voting is open online, here, for a minimum donation of $1. One can also vote in the showroom without a fee.

Siders invites the community to an open house event at the showroom, on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m., to view the art and place final votes.

Voting will end on Nov. 18, and the proceeds from the contest will be donated to Water.org.

Toilets from Chris “Chilly” Rodriguez, PHS, Ottawa Hills, Greg Justus and Kodi Klocinski.
Toilet painted by Terry Burton.
Toilet painted by Kodi Klocinski.
An inside view of the toilet created by the Ottawa Hills team.
Toilets decorated by Yvette Reyes, Lisa Huckabaa and Terry Burton.