logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Frozen Pants: The Ultimate in Voluntary Public Art

Ruth McCambridge
January 25, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Standing-pants

January 23, 2016; The Atlantic, “CityLab”

So, one function of public art is that it stops you and makes you think differently about your life, your day, your surroundings. We would submit that Tom Grotting’s little unfunded local public art project does just that.

It’s evidently Grotting’s frozen pants period. The materials are reclaimed, so the project is very environmentally friendly. Plus, the work is locally emotionally resonant, as anyone who has ever lived in a frigid place like Minneapolis can attest. (There is nothing more unattractive than a pair of frozen long underwear.)

Waiting for the city to warm up

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

A photo posted by Tom Grotting (@tomgrotting) on Jan 16, 2016 at 6:37am PST

Grotting says he simply soaks a few pairs of jeans and hangs them for a bit. This makes them both malleable and able to take a stand independently. Sometimes, they peruse the horizon from roadside or lounge outside a neighborhood coffee shop, and sometimes he puts them in front of parking meters, where he can see people “awkwardly squeezing in between the frozen pants as they tried to fill the meter” near his work.

Is it an expression of the misery or the joy of winter? Who knows? But we all need a little relief in weather that will actually keep the pants where they are placed by the artist.—Ruth McCambridge

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: public artsArts and CultureNonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Rebuilding a Cultural Economy: A Story from the Nipmuc Nation
Andre Strongbearheart and Carlos Uriona
Imagining New Worlds: Using Science Fiction to Build a Solidarity Economy
izzy sazak
How Philanthropy Can Show Up for an Arts Solidarity Economy
Cate Fox and Nichole M. Christian
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the Arts
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams
The Vital Connection: BIPOC-Led Narrative Change and Pluralist Democracy
Bridgit Antoinette Evans and Tracy Van Slyke
Widening Our Lens, Seeing the Full Opportunity to Win
Kalia Abiade

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
February 23rd, 2 pm ET

Worker Power in the Social Sector

Register Now
Group Created with Sketch.
March 15th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Caring for the Care Economy

Register Now
You might also like
Rebuilding a Cultural Economy: A Story from the Nipmuc...
Andre Strongbearheart and Carlos Uriona
Imagining New Worlds: Using Science Fiction to Build a...
izzy sazak
How Philanthropy Can Show Up for an Arts Solidarity Economy
Cate Fox and Nichole M. Christian

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.