Picking Up Sticks: Jennifer & Brad Slater on Constructing Fjord Færgemand

For the past couple of years, Jennifer and Brad Slater made it their mission to visit the whimsical, larger-than-life trolls of artist Thomas Dambo. This venture has taken them across Denmark and throughout the United States, and it’s a journey that brought them to the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, Iowa.

When visiting Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, to experience Dambo’s Save the Humans exhibit in early 2026, they had already tracked down 68 of his beloved recycled-wood creations. It’s safe to say that the Slaters are devoted fans of the Danish recycle artist.

So, when the Museum of Danish America posted on Facebook seeking volunteers to help construct a Thomas Dambo troll in Elk Horn, Iowa, Jennifer and Brad didn’t hesitate. On March 28, they signed up to volunteer and hoped for the best.

A Perfect Fit, on Paper and in Practice

Brad, a retired finish carpenter with more than two decades of hands-on experience, was a natural fit for the build. Jennifer brought her own complementary skill set, drawn from her professional work coordinating community impact events. When word came back that the two of them had been selected as carpentry helpers, they were absolutely delighted.

What they didn’t know yet was that this wasn’t just a chance to put their skills to good use—it was the start of a relationship with a place and a community they hadn’t planned on falling for.

During the Build

From the moment they arrived at MoDA for their volunteer shifts, it was clear this was going to be something special. Brad found his place working alongside the Dambo crew on the boat, immersed in the kind of craftwork he’s spent a lifetime perfecting. Meanwhile, Jennifer joined Erik Andersen and Mike Howard in the equally important—and, she’ll tell you, thoroughly charming—task of “picking up sticks” to form the flowing hair of Fjord, the troll taking shape before them.

That’s the thing about a troll build: it doesn’t run on a single set of hands or a single skill. It runs on dozens of people showing up, each bringing something different—carpentry, patience, an eye for sticks that look like hair—and somehow all of it adds up to something none of them could have built alone. The work itself became a kind of introduction. Strangers in the morning were collaborators by afternoon, and collaborators, more often than not, became friends.

Falling in Love with Elk Horn

What neither Jennifer nor Brad fully anticipated was falling in love with Elk Horn itself. They came for the troll, but they stayed, in spirit, for the town. The warmth of the community and the people they met that day left a lasting impression—so much so that they returned for the dedication ceremony and Art Talk a few weeks later.

It’s a pattern the Museum has seen again and again throughout this project: people arrive expecting to volunteer for an afternoon, and they leave having found a place they want to keep coming back to. A troll hunt becomes a reason to visit. A volunteer shift becomes a reason to join. And a single day spent picking up sticks becomes the start of a much longer relationship with MoDA—as members, as donors, as friends who show up for the next event, and the next.

That is, in many ways, the magic of a project like this. A sculpture built by a community, for a community, has a way of building the community right back. Fjord didn’t just give Elk Horn a new landmark; it gave the Museum new members, new advocates, and new individuals who now feel personally invested in its mission of preserving and sharing Danish American heritage.

What They Hope Fjord Will Mean to Others

As for their hopes for Fjord? That this troll brings the same sense of wonder, joy, and inspiration to everyone who encounters it that the Slaters have felt time and again on their own troll hunts—adventures defined by the sculptures themselves and by the unexpected friendships formed along the way. If Fjord can do for even one visitor what Elk Horn did for the Slaters, the project will have done exactly what it set out to do.

Hans Christian Andersen once wrote that life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale. For Jennifer and Brad, the trolls of Thomas Dambo bring that sentiment to life in a way that’s difficult to put into words. They are grateful, deeply so, to have played even a small part in bringing that magic to the Museum. They hope to see 100 trolls before 2026’s end—and one of their favorites, they’ll tell you, is located in Elk Horn, Iowa.