Trash is treasure for this Danish artist and his new Iowa trolls episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 29, 2026 · 48 MIN

Trash is treasure for this Danish artist and his new Iowa trolls

from Talk of Iowa · host Charity Nebbe

Danish artist Thomas Dambo has built giant troll sculptures all over the world. He makes them entirely out of reclaimed materials and hides them in natural spaces. Iowa is now home to four trolls, as part of Dambo's 'Trolls of America' dream to have at least one troll in all 50 states. On this episode we talk with Thomas about he came to be a world famous trash artist. Then, we hear from the Clinton, Iowa residents who convinced Dambo's team to install wooden trolls in what was once considered the lumber capital of the world, as well as from some of the volunteers and builders who helped construct the trolls named Helmut, Marvin and Warren around the city. A fourth troll named Fjord Ferryman was also recently unveiled in southwest Iowa at the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Apr 29, 2026

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Trash is treasure for this Danish artist and his new Iowa trolls

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