Art Hounds: Giant troll tour in Detroit Lakes

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. 

Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. 

Troll trail trek

Ann Treacy of St. Paul has a radio show with Macalester College called “Mostly Minnesota Music.” Recently, took a drive with a friend to Detroit Lakes to see the new troll installation.

Created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo, these five enormous, playful trolls created from recycled materials are hidden in and around Detroit Lakes. Local Project 412 offers several map options to start you on the scavenger hunt, which begins with Alexa’s Elixir in accessible Detroit Lakes City Park.  

Ann says seeing the trolls was worth the day trip: The trolls are amazing. When I say they’re giant, they run between 15 and 20 feet tall. Although there is one, Long Lief, who is 36 feet tall!

I had childlike expectations of the trolls, and they were far exceeded. There’s a scavenger hunt that helps you find them, and each troll will have little tasks that you can do.

If I still had small children, we would have done each task, but as an adult, I felt less need to. There’s a clue that each troll has that will help you find the golden rabbit.

What we ended up doing was driving about 20 minutes to each location. And then it’s about a 30-minute walk there and back. Not all the trolls are accessible to all: some are stroller-friendly, some are not. It was a good four-and-a-half-hour day for us.

— Ann Traecy

Navigating identities

Christian Novak of Minneapolis recently visited the Public Functionary Upstairs Gallery in the Northrup King Building in Minneapolis, where he saw BearBOI’s photography exhibit. Titled "Blackness in Transit (BGBM)," the portrait series focuses on two Black trans individuals.

The show runs through Aug. 17, with an event Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. that features BearBOI and Word M. Musinguzi in conversation. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Saturdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Christian says: What I love about [this exhibit] is that it really challenges expectations, to think about what it means to be a man or a woman, and how these individuals have to navigate a society that really focuses on this binary idea of gender. And then on top of it, what it means to be Black.

Walking out of this exhibit, it reminded me that I need to understand my own expectations and I need to understand my own assumptions.

— Christian Novak

Bluegrass bonanza

Derek Johnson is a bluegrass/folk musician who performs with Monroe Crossing and Gentleman Dreadnought and as a solo artist. He wants people to know about the Minnesota Bluegrass August Festival, a multi-day campout music festival that’s happening next weekend, Aug. 8-11 at El Rancho Mañana in Richmond, southwest of St. Cloud.  

Derek describes the scene: El Rancho Mañana is kind of a dude ranch and a camping ground, and they have one of the finest outdoor amphitheaters in the state because it’s in a shaded, wooded area. 

There will be a whole host of bluegrass entertainers and old-time music from local bands to national acts performing on multiple stages throughout the weekend.

It’s a very family-friendly event. People camp out and listen to music all day and into the evening. And not only that, they gathered around the campfires after the live shows on the stage and they pick all night long.

There’s also a dance tent, so there’s going to be a lot of square dancing and a lot of line dancing throughout the weekend.

— Derek Johnson 

A Bluegrass Jam Camp and Old Time Jam Camps run Aug. 6-8 before the start of the festival. 

Correction (Aug. 1, 2024): An earlier version of this article misspelled Ann Treacy. The post has been updated.