A large metal bowl, filled with water once again, stood on Wednesday as all that remains of Pease Park’s beloved troll, Malin.
Around 300 Austinites filled the park in “An Evening For Malin,” who graced the trail with her presence for a little over two years before burning down in a fire of unknown causes on May 21.
“Since the fire, we’ve seen such an outpouring of love and support from the community,” said Allison Johnson, community engagement director at Pease Park Conservancy. “We thought it would be a good idea to get everybody together to honor our time with Malin and what that meant to us over the last couple of years.”
The event honored the figure made by Danish artist Thomas Dambo with poetry, live music, painting, speeches and poetry.
Speakers included Lynne Dobson, whose Tejemos Foundation supported Malin’s construction, Marianne DeLeón, former PPC chief revenue officer, Charlotte Herzele, former assistant professor of instruction, who read her original poem and a boy named Miles, who read the poem “Malin’s Fountain,” engraved on a stone in the enclave Malin once lived.
District 10 Council Member Marc Duchen gave a proclamation declaring June 24, 2026 “Malin’s Fountain Day.”
“I wholeheartedly believe democracy is built in parks,” DeLeón said. “As we approach America 250, I admit I feel unsettled about our state of democracy. The cracks feel wider, and when Malin was destroyed, it felt to me like another crack in something that was already fragile.”
Dobson and her husband, Greg Wooldridge, wanted to bring Dambo to Austin after seeing his trolls in Maine in 2022. Wooldridge collected the cedar roots used for Malin’s hair over several decades and hand-picked the stones for her necklace. The couple housed Dambo, his family and his team during the build, DeLeón said at the event.
Despite the loss of Malin, the park repurposed her remains. Volunteers handed out “Malin’s Mix” for attendees to use in their gardens. Studio art graduate Corina Perez led a station inviting visitors to create paintings with Malin’s ashes, which Perez herself picked up from the site.
“Malin has won the day, despite her short time with us,” Dobson said to the crowd. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
Attendees brought flowers, placing them in Malin’s Fountain. Laura Martinez came by frequently during Malin’s construction, seeing Dambo at work. She said that the community gathering gave her a reason to come back to mourn Malin.
“I had not had the heart to come before. I just couldn’t see what was left,” Martinez said. “When I heard that this was happening, I thought, ‘I can go and be with community, and I can accept that she isn’t here anymore.’”
During her speech, Dobson said she received a text from Dambo. He said he felt honored by the community celebrating Malin and that he hopes to return.
“I feel honored to spend my life building art that brings people together, art that shows our garbage can become something good, a positive energy rather than a negative force breaking our world apart,” Dobson read.
The park, Dambo and the City of Austin will discuss what art they can put in Malin’s place, hoping to make a decision in the next few months, Johnson said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Austin Fire Department. The tip line, 1-877-434-7345, is open, looking for any information on the incident.
“This was something special,” Martinez said. “Anytime I came, it didn’t matter if it was older people, younger people, kids, there was just this sense of playful community and joyfulness to be here.”
