ROCKPORT — Embed a pair of photographs in a couple of 300-pound, crystal-clear ice blocks and then illuminate them for nighttime viewing and what do you get?

Well, if Rockport architect Robert Trumbour sees his dream become reality, the chilly displays, erected this week, will be just the first of many public art projects.

Trumbour, president of Art Harbor of Cape Inn Inc. and a teacher at Wentworth Institute in Boston, is forming a nonprofit organization revolving around the world of public art. He plans to name it Art Form.

"The art side of my brain has slowly been seeping into how I think of architecture. This project is the first of many I'd like to do," Trumbour said, yesterday. "Public art evokes a strong connection; people are able to experience it directly. (Public art) puts work out there in a venue where people are going to respond positively or negatively, either way they are going to respond."

Trumbour and several of his students constructed the art work, "Distance," last Sunday.

They spent much of the afternoon stacking a half dozen 2-by-4-by-1 foot high blocks of ice in two locations — off Mount Pleasant Street and off a footpath in the Headlands overlooking Rockport Harbor.

Visitors standing at either location can see the other, nearly 2,000-pound ice sculpture in the distance; especially at night when small, energy-saving LED lights illuminate the sculptures with a soft glow.

Carefully placed inside one of the blocks at each site is a photograph taken by local artist Andrew Borsari.

The Borsari images entombed inside the ice depict the same view a visitor to the ice display location sees. For example, those viewing the sculpture off Mount Pleasant Street will find themselves standing in the exact same spot as Borsari did the day he snapped the image, "Motif Spirit of Peace." It's that warm, summer image of Rockport's most iconic structure that hovers frozen in place in the ice.

"Rockport is this quintessential, picturesque town that many people associate with poignant summer memories, but I think Rockport is beautiful in winter, too," Trumbour said. "But it often gets overlooked at this time of year. There seems to be a disconnect with summer and winter in Rockport.

"With this ice, people get the immediate, visceral experience that heightens the distance between time," he said. "Feeling cold and touching the ice all while seeing the summer photograph."

In order to encapsulate the images into the extraordinarily clear ice, Trumbour turned to Brookline Ice and Coal company for help. There, the massive blocks were frozen slowly, devoid of air bubbles which would otherwise cloud the giant ice cube. The photograph was strategically clamped in order to allow the ice to freeze around it. As the ice slowly took hold, Trumbour was able to remove the clamps.

"When we were putting them up Sunday, some people asked what we were going to carve them into. One wondered if it would become a palm tree," Trumbour said. "All the reactions seemed positive, though. The strength of public art is that it forces people to talk about (the works), debate them and I find it fascinating."

When Trumbour approached Bearskin Neck gallery owner Borsari about the idea, the Ipswich resident immediately handed over the photographs, free of charge.

"I thought it was very unique for sure," Borsari said, yesterday. "I had never heard of anything like that before."

As of yesterday, Borsari had not yet visited the displays in person but was happy to hear the pigmented, inkjet prints successfully withstood the rigorous freezing process.

"Pigmented ink is very stable," Borsari said. "But, I'm pleased they didn't fade out or anything like that."

Trumbour said the blocks have fluctuated between being clear and somewhat cloudy, a phenomenon he expected to occur based on varying sunshine and temperature levels. They will stand as long as weather conditions allow, he said.

With high temperatures expected to reach only into the 20s today and tomorrow, it's probably a good bet that those wishing to see the artwork still have plenty of time.

Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.