School entry finishes first in East Coast kinetic sculpture race

The Carver sculpture had to travel on land and water and through mud and sand.

It is not every Saturday morning when a giant platypus rolls down the streets of Baltimore or Wallace and Gromit use a knife and fork to paddle across the harbor on a sunny-side-up egg or when high school cyclists pedal a Yellow Submarine across land and water. It is only once a year when kinetic sculptures – amphibious, human-powered marvels of art and science – convene at the American Visionary Art Museum for the East Coast Kinetic Sculpture Championship race. This year’s race was held on May 6.

For the last five years, the Engineering Club of the Carver Center for Arts and Technology has fielded an entry in the race, using the opportunity to challenge their abilities and knowledge. This year, Carver’s entry, The Yellow Submarine, bore likenesses of the Beatles and played the band’s music. Approximately 25 students from various Carver primes (majors) contributed to the construction and decoration of the vehicle and took turns as pilots along the route. What most spectators did not see was the view from inside the Yellow Submarine, which was adorned with used canvases from the Carver Center's visual arts department. Carver creativity and artfulness was evident inside and out.

The Carver Kinetic Sculpture Team was led by science teacher Phil Brauer and technology education teacher Duncan Clements.

A front view of the kinetic sculpture.

“There is a lot of science, of engineering, involved in this project,” Brauer says. “This year, the Carver Foundation bought us a core vehicle to work with, and then we took that, designed the flotation device, and made sure we could still pedal it with all of our additions.”

“My engineering students,” Clements adds, “had to figure out the required flotation for the base vehicle and research to find the best material to use. Once that was accomplished they had to reconfigure the vehicle so that the flotation devices could be placed on the vehicle and it could still be moved on the ground and float.”

Work on the project begins each September, according to Brauer. “The students meet after school, once a week at the beginning, to select the theme and begin planning. In March, we probably get together at least three times a week, and in the few weeks before the race, it is an every day thing.”

The vehicle successfully finished all phases of the 15-mile race, including the steep climb up Federal Hill, the water segment on the Canton waterfront, and the sand trap and mud pit in Patterson Park.

Carver won the speed award, traveling the race course so quickly that sometimes they passed the police escort.

Though the most coveted prize of the race is the Grand Mediocre Champion, awarded to the team that places in the dead middle of the pack, the Carver team would hear of nothing other than to be first. So, they flew through the course at an amazing pace, often riding ahead of the cone crew and police escort. For their efforts, they were honored with the Speed Award for the fastest finish. Carver was the only Baltimore County Public School to field an entry.

Many Carver supporters rode alongside the vehicle for the entire length of the course, while others joined the race at points along the route. According to Brauer, the team even attracted supporters from miles away.

“The core vehicle that we used as our foundation was a four-man bike used in a retirement community in Florida,” Brauer says. “We found it on the Internet. When we explained what we wanted to use it for, they gave us a great discount. After we finished the race, we sent them pictures and video. They were flabbergasted!”

For more information and photos from the race, please visit www.kineticbaltimore.com.

Story by Sally K. Gold, member of the Carver Center Foundation Board and parent of a Carver Center graduate and a Carver Center student, and Diana Spencer, communications officer. Photos by Sally Gold and Duncan Clements, technology education teacher, Carver Center for Arts and Technology.