The gas station chain Buc-ee’s, first founded in 1982, has, for better or worse, become a bit of a part of the Lone Star State’s identity.
It’s a company with more than 50 locations across Texas, and if you stop by any of them, you’ll see rows of gas pumps, a massive selection of drinks and snacks, and, of course, that statue of a beaver out front.
At some locations, you will also find pieces of art for sale on the way to the bathroom.
Lauren Larson is a senior writer at Texas Monthly who has a new story out about these bathroom art galleries. She joined Texas Standard to discuss. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: What kind of art is on display there, could you describe it?
Lauren Larson: Well, it’s going to be hyper-regional, very colorful, very fun, sort of what you’d expect to see in a really, really cool Airbnb in Texas. You’re going to find a lot of longhorns, sunflowers, bluebonnets – a lot of bluebonnets.
The men’s room and the women’s room are curated differently. So Buc-ee’s knows that women make most of the purchasing decisions for households, but the idea is that men will see something on their way into their side of the bathrooms and then show their wives, who will then make the purchase.
It sounds like you’ve also talked with someone who curates these art displays.
Yes, there is a curator of the Buc-ee’s bathroom galleries. Her name is Colleen Booth. She has been in the home decor space for decades previously in sort of candles and home fragrances.
But she took over the bathroom galleries at Buc-ee’s a couple of years ago and has just done a really weirdly good job curating these spaces. You kind of get the sense when you’re in there of like,
“Oh, someone was putting a lot of thought into this.”
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Yes, no doubt about that. How does she decide which art should go up in the Buc-ee’s bathroom?
She’s just an expert on every region in Texas. She spends a lot of time looking at Airbnbs and boutique hotels and other spaces that just extremely reflect local area’s preferences. She also spends a lotta time at Round Top art fairs.
Yeah, there are a lot of those antique maps of Texas and stuff like that that I see echoed on the walls, at least on the men’s side. I haven’t really noticed what’s going on on the women’s side.
I know, I actually have no idea what’s over on the men’s side. I’m kind of, as a former horse camp attendee, I’m kinda drawn to the horses on the women’s side, but I have no idea what is happening on your end.
How much do these pieces sell for? Some are rather elaborate. You often see these antique wooden frames on some of these pictures.
Yeah, I mean you have some on the cheaper end that are a little smaller and maybe more sort of like stretched canvas but these can be like a couple hundred dollars and they’re meant to be sort of taken home directly from the bathrooms and hung up. You don’t have to worry about framing.
But yeah, people will spend a couple of hundred dollars in the bathroom at Buc-ee’s.
So do I just lift this thing off the wall right here or do I have to go and ask an attendant? How does that work out?
You’re meant to ask for assistance and, in fact, you can ask for a wrapped-up one from the back if you don’t want the… I don’t know, why wouldn’t you want the most authentic bathroom art you could have?
You know, I think for a lot of folks it comes down to how authentically Texan is this? Are these from local artists or are they sort of gathered from vendors around the world or how does she source these pieces of art?
Most of them are. This is really a great springboard for local artists, especially kind of in the Western space.
And you’ll see artists who are super popular at Round Top and beyond hanging their work in Buc-ee’s. Like John R. Lowery is a favorite of mine. He has this gallery, Humble Donkey, in Round Top that’s eternally crowded. And he hangs in Buc-ee’s. And you know, it’s artists that you might even recognize.
That is really interesting. I’m surprised I haven’t bumped into you in Round Top. We go out there plenty of weekends. You have any favorite pieces you noticed while working on this story?
There’s two. There’s one by Jackie Halliburton, who’s a folk artist out of Katy, called “Butt Stop Here.” It’s like a play on a bus stop. And it’s like from the back and it says “Butt Stop Here” on it. And it’s so cute.
And then there’s one by Lowery called “Lend Me Your Ear,” which a couple people brought up and it’s a very popular piece. And it’s an angus cow with a cardinal on its ear. And people were just really drawn to it.
