The B-Side Bathroom Is a Museum of Beloved Dogs

Bathroom graffiti in Portland is like the tide: It does not recede for long. Holding it at bay in the B-Side Tavern bathrooms is longtime bartender Gabriel Taylor, also a painter and a co-founder of Portland art collective PVVK Art Studio. One bathroom of the stalwart Portland rocker dive showcases spooky art by fellow PVVK artist Valentine Aveline, which Taylor regularly touches up against tags and off-color remarks. The other bathroom is much more personal. It is a museum of dogs owned and loved by Taylor, Aveline, and bar owner Tanya Frantzen. There is Doctor Watson, Aveline’s wire-haired terrier. There’s Frantzen’s Great Dane. And there’s Duchess Bigwig, Taylor’s chihuahua. And then there’s Chompsky Honk, Taylor’s much-missed dog whom co-worker Nina Rey describes as a “chonk of a chihuahua,” and his fierce Pomeranian sibling named Cheeseburger Machinegun. These last two passed on last year after a long life, with dates of death inscribed on the bar’s wall. And so each time that Taylor goes back into the bathroom to repaint and refresh their image, it is a labor of love. “When I go in there, it’s like, ‘Hey, cuties,’” Taylor says. “It makes me happy to go in there and see my buds.”

632 E Burnside St.

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