Go for a stroll and meet the troll in BI

“Wake up Pia. Wake up,” a group of about 50 community members said at Sakai Park Aug. 19 to celebrate “Pia the Peacekeeper,” a wooden troll made by international recycle artist Thomas Dambo and local volunteers.

After members of the Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestra performed “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” a crowd admired the 18-foot-tall sculpture that many of them helped build from recycled wood pallets, moss, apple tree cuttings, oyster shells and driftwood.

When the city of Poulsbo voted against hosting the Dambo troll last October, BI Metro Parks & Recreation Commissioner Dawn Janow saw an opportunity to find a home for the troll here. She became the project lead between Scan Design Foundation and Friends of the Bainbridge Troll and formed a coalition to put BI on the map of the Northwest “Way of the Bird King” troll project, which also includes sites in Portland, Vashon, West Seattle, Issaquah and Seattle. The project celebrates the human experience of art by inspiring a network of communities to participate in building giant sculptures that reinforce the shared values of environmental stewardship and sustainability.

“The project was a tremendous amount of work with many unknowns,” Janow said.

The Scan Design Foundation in Seattle brought the project to the Northwest to support cultural exchange between Denmark and the United States. BI parks agreed to host the site for three years, while the local Friends group managed the project and worked with Arts and Humanities Bainbridge on fundraising.

Dambo said he builds his trolls to generate awareness about what is thrown away and how to reuse it in a way to bring the community together and is inspired by how happy people are to participate in something that makes other people happy and also educate them about recycling. “I think it’s amazing what you can bring to life if you have good people, a good community, the help of a lot of people, and a big pile of pallets,” he said.

Janow added: “I call this project a stone soup type of project where you’re not quite sure what’s happening at the beginning and then more people add to it, and more people are tuned in. Before you know it, you’ve got this amazing, delicious, awesome thing.”

Creating the troll has been a “tremendous effort” to create and to fund, Janow said. Volunteers provided meals and local businesses donated materials. “We haven’t had to buy any wood at all. We had to purchase the screws, but everything else has been completely donated, recycled or repurposed,” she said.

The Bainbridge troll is one of six giant sculptures that are part of the environmental story, The Way of the Troll King, that amplify the connections of cultural heritage between Coast Salish tribal communities and Danish and Scandinavian traditions.

The average cost of a troll is about $100,000 to pay for the artist’s fees, housing his crew, materials, equipment, machinery and per diems for the crew. The Scan Design Foundation donated $25,000, as did the Paul G. Allen Foundation. Also, BI raised $35,000 during a book signing fundraiser at the BI Arts Museum. “I was really overwhelmed with how many people came out and how much it meant for everybody,” Dambo said.

Bainbridge residents further offset lodging expenses by opening up their homes to host Dambo and his crew of 12. Several businesses donated meals and refreshments for the fundraiser.

“People have been really kind to open their houses and their hearts up and invite us in. It’s been a great experience for us to come and work with the islanders and live with them in their houses,” Dambo said.

Dambo read a poem he composed about the troll who sits beneath the trees and shared her purpose. “Pia likes to play with people when they keep quiet, but if we misbehave and disturb with a lot of noise, she might give us a little squeeze.”

A tower of birdhouses is erected in the park as part of Dambo’s art installation.

Island volunteers Julie Bennett and Steve Keller make birdhouses for the art installation at Sakai Park.

Troll fan Tom Nordlie carries apple tree branches he cut and saved for two years to be used for the troll’s hair. Nordlie advocated for the troll to be built at Fish Park in Poulsbo.