Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race |
2018 Race: Mysteries & Tall Tales
The 20th Annual Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race will be Saturday, May 5, 2018 and its theme will be Mysteries & Tall Tales.
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| 2017 Grand Mediocre Champion Cowsmic Moobeams’ Knees on the water at Canton May 7, 2017. Want to see more photos? |
| Only 14 days until the 20th annual race! Saturday, May 5. Get working on your spectator costume now! |
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Final call for volunteers!
Come to the last volunteer meeting 10am Saturday, April 28! Free food!
Last Call for Teams!
The deadline for racer entry forms was April 1! You can still submit your team’s form with a late fee—but it must be received at the AVAM front desk by 5:00pm April 30. (Postmarks don’t count.) Download the entry form on the Enter! page.
Kinetic Forum down for repair
The Kinetic Forum is in the shop for a tune-up. It’ll be working soon.
What’s a Kinetic Sculpture Race?
Kinetic Sculptures are amphibious, human powered works of art custom built
for the race. Each May, the American
Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) hosts the East Coast Kinetic Sculpture Race
Championship on the shore of Baltimore’s Harbor in central Maryland. The eight-hour race
covers 14 miles—mostly on pavement, but also including a trip into the
Chesapeake Bay and through mud and sand.
Kinetic Sculpture Racing began in Ferndale, California in 1969 when artist Hobart Brown upgraded his son’s tricycle into a 5-wheeled pentacycle and was challenged to a race down Main Street. (Hobart did not win.) Over the decades since, the California race evolved into a 3-day all-terrain Kinetic Grand Championship including treacherous sand dunes, water crossings, and elaborate sculptures and costumes. You can learn more on Wikipedia including a list of other races nationwide.
For more about the Baltimore race, browse the race photo results in the left menu.
Where can I see Kinetic Sculptures?
You can go to a Kinetic Sculpture Race on the day(s) they run, or the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. AVAM displays Fifi and their other sculptures year round in the dedicated Sculpture Barn.
How to Build a Kinetic Sculpture
Learn from Elliot’s How To Build a Kinetic Sculpture reference guide.