Who’s Behind the Uncomfortably Detailed Phallus on a DART Construction Site Porta-Potty?

It all started with an alarmingly detailed artistic portrayal of a phallus. The graffiti in question was scrawled on the side of a portable toilet at a North Dallas construction site off the path that will eventually become the Silver Line.

Alongside the phallus was a message. Although it’s difficult to decipher, it appears to read: “Right up the butt.”

Still under construction, Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s 26-mile rail line is slated to serve North Dallas, Richardson and Plano and connect to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. The line has met some resistance in North Dallas.

City Council member Cara Mendelsohn posted on Facebook and Twitter photos of the portable toilet late Thursday. She blamed either DART or Archer Western Herzog, the contractor building the Silver Line, for placing the penis-emblazoned portable toilet there.

The latest @dartmedia juvenile stunt to taunt North Dallas – putting a potty with porno graffiti on residential corner next to homeowner who opposes #SilverLine project. Kids pass this on the way to school. Grow up! @NCTCOGtrans @ColinAllredTX @VanTaylorTX @Bethvanduyne @axios pic.twitter.com/I9licou2cj

— caraathome (@🏡) (@caraathome) May 20, 2022

Writing on Facebook, she described the toilet as part of a “juvenile stunt to taunt Far North Dallas — putting a port-a-potty with pornographic graffiti on the residential corner next to a homeowner that vocally opposes their #SilverLine project.”

“Kids pass by this on the way to school,” Mendelsohn wrote. “Grow up Archer Western Herzog!” (To be fair, it looked remarkably similar to something a kid would draw, but hey …)

Neither DART nor Archer Western Herzog responded to the Observer about the City Council member’s accusations of taking a jab at local North Dallas residents who oppose the Silver Line, which is also known as the Cotton Belt Line.

On Facebook and Twitter, some social media users joined in with Mendelsohn in condemning what they saw as an intentional act of retaliation.

Others questioned whether it could be the case that someone else vandalized the toilet after it had been placed in that location. But Mendelsohn insisted a nearby resident said it had been dropped off already bearing said art.

Some social media users seemed to appreciate the art. “After years working in construction and using porta potties daily I really want to create one of those nice coffee table books of porta potty art,” one person wrote on Facebook. “There’s some damn fine work being done that needs to be appreciated.”

Another wrote simply, “That’s art,” to which yet another Facebook user added: “The hair is a nice touch.”

One person even suggested a title: “The Phallus of North Dallas.”

Dallas is a city where satisfying answers can be hard to come by, but rest assured that the Observer will be on the case.