Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race |
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| 2019 Engineering award winner Shark Tank (Platypus), powered by 9 people, races a (smaller) MTA bus on Francis Scott Key Highway. Photo by Tom Jones.
Want to see more photos? |
Race Day: Saturday, May 2 May 1, 2021
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture is rescheduled for Saturday, May 1, 2021. The theme remains Born to be Wild.
2019 Race Photos & Results
See our Complete coverage of the 2019 Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race!
| Only 219 days until the 2021 race! Saturday, May 1, 2021. Use this time to design your kinetic sculpture! |
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Kinetic Forum
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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) produces and hosts the East Coast Kinetic Sculpture Race
Championship on the shore of Baltimore’s Harbor in central Maryland. The eight-hour race
covers 15 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 race days, 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.