The Artists Soap Box Derby

Photo Essay by Brendan Merritt (text by Philip H. Farber)

On August 23, 1998, The Donskoj Gallery in Kingston, New York sponsored the Third Annual Artists Soap Box Derby. Like other soap box derbies, the event featured vehicles that rolled down a steep slope, the lower end of Broadway in Kingston's historic Rondout district. The difference in this event was that speed and even maneuverability were not the important criteria. Crazed vehicles created by area artists careened at great speed (or, in the case of some, at a snail's pace) down the road while photographers swarmed to capture the weirdness on film.

No one was run over, but one lobster was reported to have been eaten.

The event opened with a Gypsy Procession that featured the band Bardo Motel and Kinetic- Percussion Necktie Fashions by Marilyn Stablein.

There were sixteen entries to the competition, some of which are depicted below:

Sheila (the name of the vehicle, not the driver)

The Full Moon

Bubbles

Wrenchasaurus

Table Lamp

The Dump Nest

The Dump Nest on a roll

The Winner by a wrench

The Loser (Rondout Reject Award), Early Bird Special

For more information about the Donskoj Gallery or future Artists Soap Box Derbies, call (914) 338-8473.