"Mama Zelda" draws crowds to Huntsville Botanical Garden
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The "Mama Zelda" troll sculpture is about 20 feet tall. Photo: Courtesy of Huntsville Botanical Garden
Huntsville Botanical Garden's newest tenant is drawing in thousands of new visitors, transporting them to a storybook world with a lesson of sustainability.
Why it matters: The Mother Earth Troll Garden and "Mama Zelda" sculpture show how the garden is leaning into permanent installations to set itself apart, said marketing manager Sarah Colvert.
- It appears to be working, too, as nearly 10,000 more people have visited the garden in the six months since it opened than in the same period last year, Colvert said.
Catch up quick: The Mother Earth Troll Garden, featuring the "Mama Zelda" sculpture by Danish artist Thomas Dambo, opened in April after years of planning, Colvert told Axios Huntsville.
- Dambo and his team were on site from Denmark, working with staff and volunteers in February. The garden was left to "grow in" in March.
- The troll sculpture's "hair" flows down to form the mazed garden, unique among Dambo's roughly 150 installations as the only one that includes a full garden, Colvert said.
What they're saying: "It's designed for you to go over and under and around," she said. "This feels like it's right out of a story book."
- Dambo "was able to design something that really inspired wonder, and keeping nature play and adventure in mind," Colvert said.
Zoom in: Zelda's hair is covered in thousands of native plants, Colvert said, and at the top of her head is a three-ton planter from which vines will grow to further cover the maze.
- "It's really cool to see just how much nature play has taken place with this," Colvert said.
- Her "fur" is made of whiskey barrels, and a donated piece of the original Lowe Mill makes up part of her arm.
- The maze was designed to be whimsical, and Colvert said she was eager to see how long it took kids to find two "hidden" tunnels. It was almost immediate.
Context: The native plants help tell the story of sustainability at the center of Dambo's work, which also incorporates salvaged wood and repurposed materials.
- "She's really just a masterpiece and representative of Huntsville," constructed with materials from North Alabama, Colvert said.