The Fremont Troll
by Steve Bandanes, Donna Walter, Will Martin and Ross Whitehead
Photo by Nance Carter
2009
the sender writes:
The Fremont Troll lives under a bridge in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. He's covered in concrete, and that's a real Volkswagen Beetle in his left hand. We've been assured he's a friendly troll - he presides over neighborhood festivities such as Trolloween.
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The Fremont Troll (also known as The Troll, or the Troll Under the Bridge) is a piece of public art in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington in the United States.
The Troll is a mixed media megalithic statue, located on N. 36th Street at Troll Avenue N., under the north end of the Aurora Bridge. Aurora Avenue North was renamed "Troll Avenue" in its honor in 2005. Despite its name, the Troll is not under the nearby Fremont Bridge. It is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle, as if it had just swiped it from the roadway above.
The piece was the winner of a competition sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council in 1990, in part with the goal of rehabilitating the area under the bridge which was becoming a dumping ground and haven for drug dealers. It was built later that same year. The Troll was sculpted by four local artists: Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter, and Ross Whitehead. He is interactive—visitors are encouraged to clamber on him or try to poke out his one good eye (a hubcap). The Troll is 5.5 m high, weighs two tons (1814 kg), and is made of steel rebar, wire, and concrete.
The Troll was featured in the film 10 Things I Hate About You.
