A retired master plumber in Texas who developed a following for his massive collection of toilet seat art has died.
For nearly the past three decades, Barney Smith, 98, was the curator of the Toilet Seat Art Museum, a collection of his decorated toilet seats that grew to number about 1,400. Smith housed the museum in a two-room corrugated metal garage on his Alamo Heights, Texas, property near San Antonio, and he was usually available to provide tours to anyone who wanted to stop by. Smith’s family announced on the museum’s Facebook page recently that Smith died on July 23.
But Smith’s legacy of toilet seat art lives on. Last year, a book was published, King of the Commode: Barney Smith & His Toilet Seat Art Museum, and it was the hope of Smith and his supporters that the publicity could help find a new permanent home for the museum’s collection. That dream came to fruition when Jason Boso and his wife, Amanda, stepped up in late 2018. The owners of Truck Yard, a self-described “adult playground” featuring food trucks, live music, and a beer garden, were building a third location for their business in The Colony, a suburb of Dallas, and wanted to make the Toilet Seat Art Museum a part of it.
The Colony’s Truck Yard location recently opened and the Toilet Seat Art Museum is now officially in its new home on the business’ second floor.
“It’s the perfect conversation starter,” Max Perlstein, Truck Yard assistant general manager, told Plano Magazine. “You can look through and find your favorite. Plus, it’s where our reservations and private parties will be held.”
