It’s a fish, it’s a grocery cart, it’s the A&D Derby

At face value, the Art and Design Department’s Derby may look like little more than a diversified take on the age-old pinewood derby, but take a closer look and you’ll see that these are not just slabs of wood with wheels attached.

In fact, according to Jim Zimpel, Columbia’s daytime woodshop manager and co-creator of the derby, one can expect to see a grocery cart, a roller skate, a fish and an upside- down, flaming tanker truck racing down the 30 foot by 60 foot track at Manifest’s A&D Derby, which will take place on May 27 at 3:30 p.m. in the CPS Parking Lot, 645 S. Wabash Ave.

“We were looking for some way we could get our work aides more involved in using the tools out in the shop—give them something that was fun and more interesting to do than build a box, to just get them reacquainted or acquainted with the tools,” said Zimpel, who created the derby earlier in the year with the help of fellow woodshop manager Chris Kerr.

“We encourage the work aides to think of them more as floats, so they’re not your traditional type of car,” he added.

The initial race, which took place on March 19, featured around a dozen entries and was a rousing affair, according to Art and Design Department chairman Jay Wolke, who served as the race’s official starter (“the guy that dropped the cars down the ramp,” he explained).

“While it is a competition, it had a lot more to do with the kind of creative products, which were as much sculptures as they were race cars,” Wolke said. “So everybody was able to input their own personalities into the cars and it just made for a wonderful fun event. It’s sort half performance, half competition, half art piece.”

Unlike most events at Manifest, the purpose of the derby is not to showcase the work of graduating seniors, though Zimpel said it definitely has its own merits. “I think ours is going to be the most exciting [of the Manifest events]. People can really get behind it. It’s like NASCAR but miniature. You’re right on the track.”

“I think the greatest thing about [the derby] is that it kind of goes back to this idea of a leveling of high and low art,” Wolke said, “that art can be representative of a very solemn pursuit but then can also be representative of a more popular-based pursuit. I think that’s the beauty of it.”

Manifest’s derby will feature the same cast of racers as its March edition, though there will be a few additions, according to Zimpel.

The derby will be a double elimination tournament with awards going to the top three finishers as well as the best looking car. But, perhaps for Zimpel and the other racers, there’s more at stake than any awards. “It’s all about glory,” he said.

“This promises to be a very, very fun and creative event,” Wolke said.