‘We should treat our trash like a treasure’: Dambo troll complete at Wauwatosa’s new Firefly Grove Park

By Jenna Wells

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    WAUWATOSA, Wisconsin (WDJT) — The new Firefly Grove Park is officially open on Wauwatosa’s west side, and visitors will be greeted by a whimsical creature.

“Something funny with these flowers

Some have special needs and powers

There’s no roots beneath these flowers

Rain don’t rain upon these flowers

Something funny with these flowers

Comes from nothing in an hour

There’s no honey bees, these flowers

Have no honey in these flowers

Something funny with these flowers

Stands all summer, won’t go sour

When the sun’s asleep, these flowers glow

I wonder how these flowers grow?”

That poem marks the spot of a soon-to-be familiar face in Wauwatosa.

Her name is Mama Rosa, a 25-foot-tall troll overlooking the new playground.

She is the first sculpture by artist Thomas Dambo in the state of Wisconsin.

“I say that my trolls are like the protectors of the plants and the animals, and they speak for them,” Dambo said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday.

Hailing from Denmark, Dambo has built 156 trolls around the world, all with recycled materials.

“We should treat our trash like a treasure,” Dambo explained.

Mama Rosa is made of old trees from Wauwatosa neighborhoods, and she is holding a bouquet of discarded light posts that Dambo found at the city’s public works building.

“I love to come in, find something that has no value, and then give it some value,” Dambo said.

The lights even work, thanks to solar panels at the park.

The sculpture and the park were both funded by hotel tourism taxes and grants.

“He’s now said it twice — this is his favorite troll of 156 he’s done,” Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride said about Dambo. “We’re holding him to that.”

These trolls have dedicated fans, and Mayor McBride expects Mama Rosa to be a tourist attraction.

“By having Wauwatosa become an art destination, which we are and will continue to be, we’re going to fill those rooms and restaurants, and everybody will benefit from it,” McBride explained.

Dambo hopes the sculpture teaches onlookers an important lesson.

“It is to show the world that our trash is not dirty, disgusting, dangerous, and worthless,” he explained. “It is important and can bring out millions of people that can come enjoy and look at our trash.”

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