Scott Froschauer

"Why Are We So Cruel" - Contemporary Street Sign Sculpture

2018

Scott Froschauer creates playfully experimental art in eclectic projects ranging from large-scale work installed beneath the Nevada desert stars to street sign interventions.

Before concentrating on visual art, Froschauer earned a degree in theoretical linguistics from Syracuse University. Traditional art forms like drawing and painting were not his passion, so he jumped at the opportunity to join a friend at Nevada’s annual Burning Man, an event held in the desert that cultivates a community of self-expression and discovery. Using his engineering knowledge, he helped artists construct their designs in high wind conditions and at monumental scales.

Froschauer has also been inspired by how road signs simultaneously cut through a flurry of advertising messages while flying under the radar of the average passerby. One of his better-known projects — The Word On The Street — recontextualizes Department of Transportation signs to change them into messages of positivity. From a stop sign transformed to read “start” to one of his first designs — a yellow caution diamond with “breathe” written across it — each piece capitalizes on the power of street signs. The idea began when Froschauer made stickers, initially of his cat’s face or other amusing images, which he would place over the heads of existing crosswalk signs. Not wanting to deface key signs in his neighborhood, he later made his own sign and illegally mounted it where it stood for six months.

In 2017, the City of Glendale, California, put out a call for unusual art. Through it, Froschauer earned a commission to make 20 signs for various parks and public locations around the city. In 2018, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, held an exhibition on Burning Man art and included his signs. Froschauer also exhibited in 2017 at Brainworks Gallery in Los Angeles and in 2018 at the San Diego Art Institute and Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Scott Froschauer’s mixed media and sculptures.