Thomas Dambo Troll in Pease Park
Pease Park Conservancy is exploring the feasibility of a public artwork donation from the Tejemos Foundation and the Conservancy to the City of Austin. The proposed artwork is a Thomas Dambo troll sculpture made from recycled and reused wood that would be commissioned and installed in Pease Park in early 2024.
To understand more about this project, please read our FAQs here and then provide us with your input through our very short survey that follows.
About the artwork & the artist
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The artwork would be fully funded and maintained by Pease Park Conservancy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works in partnership with the City of Austin to share responsibilities for the operations and maintenance of Pease District Park.
Pease Park Conservancy is 100% funded by the generosity of its community of donors in support of its mission to celebrate the diverse ecology and history that make Austin’s first public park valuable and unique. The Conservancy works to restore, enhance, and maintain Pease Park’s public green space for the sustainable use and enjoyment of all.
Public funds are not used to support the organization and would not be used to support this project.
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Thomas Dambo is a critically acclaimed artist and designer, and a self-described “Recycling Art Activist” who creates public art sculptures from recycled and reused materials. He specializes in making wooden sculptures from scrap wood and has installed more than 100 trolls worldwide.
Every piece of art Dambo creates has a story - a message about environmental or ecological awareness. Before building a sculpture, Dambo works with locals to understand their culture and stories seeking to find commonality in goals of taking care of Mother Nature and to educate on how to do better.
His whimsical, recycled-wood trolls provide community members with the opportunity to explore nature on their visit and to experience an example of how materials can be reused and repurposed into art. The trolls created by Thomas Dambo are hand-built so impact to the surrounding environment is minimal.
Learn more about Thomas Dambo and his trolls here and check out the Troll Map to see where these incredible sculptures can be found.
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Thomas Dambo would grant a 15 year exclusive license to the proposed artwork, subject to the Conservancy maintaining the sculpture over this period. At the end of the license period, the parties may (I) agree on an extension period or a new license, (ii) the artist may grant a third party a license, or use some or all of the work for their own purposes, or (iii) the Conservancy will remove the work ensuring that materials are recycled as much as possible and that removal takes place in a sustainable way.
about the conservancy
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Pease Park Conservancy is 100% funded by the generosity of its community of donors in support of its mission to celebrate the diverse ecology and history that make Austin’s first public park valuable and unique. The Conservancy works to restore, enhance, and maintain Pease Park’s public green space for the sustainable use and enjoyment of all.
Public funds are not used to support the organization and would not be used to support this project.
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The work of the Conservancy is governed by a Park Operations & Maintenance Agreement (POMA) with the City of Austin. The POMA requires the Conservancy to:
*operate and maintain Kingsbury Commons in accordance with a Park Operations and Maintenance Plan which must be submitted to, and approved by, PARD on an annual basis;
*provide programs and activities in Pease Park in accordance with an Annual Programming Plan which must be submitted to, and approved by, PARD on an annual basis;
*undertake throughout the park certain land management activities described in the park’s Land Management Plan;
*meet four times per year with a committee organized by the City for ongoing communication and cooperation under the POMA;
*meet monthly with PARD to coordinate operations and maintenance activities for the month.
about the artwork donation & loan
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Pease Park Conservancy follows the City of Austin Artwork Donation and Loan Policy and application process, which is under the oversight of the Economic Development Department Cultural Arts Division. Since this proposed artwork donation would be on parkland, the application includes:
*an initial proposal to the PARD staff member assigned to manage the commissioning and donation process for all public artwork displayed in departmental facilities and/or on parkland (the Single Point of Contact, or SPOC) (proposal submitted)
*if the SPOC determines that the proposal is viable, the donor completes an Artwork Loan Application with the Economic Development Department Cultural Arts Division’s Art in Public Places office (application submitted)
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The application will be vetted through a series of reviews beginning with a Departmental Review Committee (DRC) which is made up of:
*a representative of Park Planning, Architecture, or Landscape Division,
*a representative of the Operations & Maintenance Division,
*a representative of the Museums & Cultural Programs Division,
*a representative of EDD’s Art in Public Places staff,
*the Site Manager or Program Manager of the affected property, and
*a member of the Park Rangers and/or other designated security entity
The DRC review includes, but is not limited to:
*adequacy of funding to cover the cost of installation, transport of the object, and long-term maintenance and operations
*impacts to the environment, or the public’s enjoyment of parkland
*public benefits of the project (such as education, aesthetic enjoyment, or appreciation for the benefits of parks), and
*alignment with the Department’s mission and values
The DRC may choose to follow up the discussion with a presentation by the public artwork donor, and the DRC may ask questions of the Donor to fully vet the viability of the donation. The DRC will provide feedback and direction to the SPOC
A final recommendation will be made to the Director by the SPOC regarding the donation. If the SPOC recommends acceptance, and if the Director is amenable to such a recommendation, the SPOC will:
*work to engage stakeholders for public comment (no single stakeholder will represent the opinion of another stakeholder),
*proceed to review by the Parks & Recreation Board, the AIPP Review Panel, and Arts Commission review, when required.
The SPOC will communicate any directives from the Director’s office related to the public artwork donation project, including proposed functionality of the project.
what are the possible sites for the troll?
1. Shoal Creek Trail between Gaston Green and Lamar Terrace - Engagement results have shown this site to not be viable. In the survey, please provide your feedback on site 3.
Coordinates: 30°17'44.5"N 97°44'57.5"W
Location: approximately 1,220 feet north on the Shoal Creek trail from Shoal Creek Blvd and Gaston Avenue
Setting: wooded area with sufficient clearance for tree critical root zones
Proximity to residences: approximately 50 feet downhill from a home on Claire Avenue
Proximity to car parking: approximately 1,430 feet to Lamar Senior Center parking lot (34 spaces) and approximately 1,650 feet to Gaston Green parking lot (33 spaces)
2. Lamar Terrace
Engagement results have shown this site to not be viable. In the survey, please provide your feedback on site 3.
Coordinates: 30°17'52.0"N 97°44'58.0"W
Location: approximately 280 feet from the southwest corner of 29th Street and North Lamar Blvd
Setting: open area surrounded by trees
Proximity to residences: approximately 450 feet away from two residences on the opposite side of Shoal Creek and the Shoal Creek Trail
Proximity to car parking: approximately 500 feet to Lamar Senior Center parking lot (34 spaces) and approximately 2,450 feet to Gaston Green parking lot (33 spaces)
3. Just north of Kingsbury Commons
Coordinates: 30°16'59.6"N 97°45'12.6"W
Location: approximately 500 feet north of the Treehouse at Kingsbury Commons
Setting: wooded area with sufficient clearance for tree critical root zones
Proximity to residences: approximately 1,100 feet from a home on Parkway
Proximity to car parking: approximately 1,225 feet to Kingsbury Commons parking lot (18 spaces), approximately 3,050 feet to ACC Parking Garage (400 spaces), and approximately 2,850 feet to House Park parking lot (100 spaces)
Pease Park Programming & the troll
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Installation of a Dambo troll would align with, and be integrated into, the Conservancy’s Ecologist School Field Trip program, a collaboration between Pease Park Conservancy and Families in Nature.
Research has demonstrated that time spent outdoors positively impacts children’s physical, emotional, and intellectual development. This children’s field trip program activates Pease Park as an outdoor classroom and engages kids of all ages in experiencing the sights, scents, sounds, and textures of the outdoors.
These field trips to Pease Park, facilitated by Pease Park Conservancy staff, are service-learning opportunities where students volunteer in the park and learn about the environment through a curriculum thoughtfully designed by the Conservancy and Families In Nature. These experiences not only match with STEAM classroom instruction, but they inspire creative thinking and offer students unique, hands-on learning. The troll would introduce the “a” in STEAM!
The Conservancy is committed to creating equitable access to nature for all. Through grants and donations, the Conservancy is able to fully fund these field trips for Title 1 schools. This includes travel, lunch, and take-back-to-the-classroom curriculum for the teachers. The Conservancy’s hope is to inspire students to love our planet and to inspire future generations of environmental stewards.
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In 2019, Pease Park Conservancy worked in partnership with PARD and specialists from MuseWork and RECLAIM to create the Pease Park Interpretive Plan. The plan provides a strategic framework intended to guide the park in telling the stories of the space.
The Pease Park plan explores the meanings and implications behind the cultural, historical, and geological history of the park and the impacts we have or can have on the park and the environment. This plan has offered us guidance on programming, educational opportunities, and ways to engage visitors with the deeper meaning of the space.
The first theme identified in the Pease Park Interpretive Plan states that Pease Park is a place that reveals the wonders of the natural world and the intersections and tensions of our evolving place within it. A Dambo troll sculpture would live in an urban forest, be made of repurposed materials, and teach visitors the importance of valuing our one and only Earth.
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Theme two of the Pease Park Interpretive Plan is that Pease Park is emblematic of racial and economic injustice in Austin and presents a unique opportunity to acknowledge our history of slavery, segregation, and exclusion in order to create a public space that is welcoming and accessible to all.
In 2021 and 2022, the Conservancy and Civic Arts conducted research and community engagement to learn more about how Black communities in Austin want their stories and the stories of their ancestors told in the park. Some of these efforts are documented in Along the Water by Funmi Ogunro.
In 2023, additional collaborative partners joined in researching and documenting (via film and other media) Austin’s Black Freedom Communities. A Community Activated Park Project (CAPP) is now pending with PARD to support additional research on Freedom Communities, with a goal of telling their stories in Pease Park.
Local artists have been and will be commissioned to bring oral, film, and physical stories of Austin’s Black Freedom Communities to Pease Park.
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Pease Park Conservancy recognizes and values the work of Austin artists, and compensates them for their talents and contributions to our park programming.
*The Conservancy’s summer music series, Pease Nights, showcases local musicians, including Buffalo Hunt, Graham Wilkinson, Hong Kong Wigs, Annabelle Chairlegs, Aaron McDonnell, and Brother Thunder
*The Conservancy partners with Future Front and Las Ofrendas/Frida Friday to bring hundreds of local queer and BIPOC artists and their work to Pease Park’s artist vendor markets
*The Conservancy partners with BookPeople to bring local children’s book authors to Pease Park for storytime; authors include: Meghan P. Browne, Nicholas Solis, Lindsay Leslie, Samantha M. Clark, Jessica Lee Anderson
*The Conservancy partners with local puppeteer, Joan Klasson, of Small Wonders Puppet Theater, to present almost monthly puppet shows for children
*At the Sound Baths in the Treehouse, the Conservancy brings local artists and musicians, such as Bad Luck Penny, Harboursome, Maru, Bruised Sinatra, and Cynthia Bernard
*In partnership with The Contemporary Austin and their Museum Without Walls program, Pease Park hosts David Deming’s Mystic Raven in Lamar Terrace near 29th and Lamar. Deming taught at the University of Texas Austin from 1972-1996, serving as the Chair of the Art Department from 1992-1996 and Dean of the College of Fine Arts from 1996-1998.
*In 2018, the Conservancy commissioned Patrick Dougherty, a renowned southern artist to install Yippee Ki Yay, a sculpture consisting of five L-shaped elements that sat at odds with one another, giving them a rough and tumble look. The surfaces were a bit rude and raw, like the terrain of the Texas Hill Country where the ligustrum, ash, and Roosevelt Weed material was gathered. His work of art was meant to be outside, in the conditions from which its materials originated, and later — after, as the artist put it, “a few good years, depending on the weather” — it will return to the earth.