Koko Open Source Readies Their Summer Soap Box Derby Heroes

11-year-old Alex Watkins is explaining the trials of tribulations of constructing her vehicle.

“The brakes didn’t work at first, but I finally fixed them,” she said while painting her three-wheeler.

Walt started out with a three-wheeler design but had some initial struggles as well.

“I wanted to make a three-wheeler, but the brakes didn’t work,” he said as he applied a red and white color design to his creation.

Koko Open Source, the education branch of Open Source Gallery, has been holding their Soap Box Summer Workshop and Derby since 2008. And although the kids may be neck and neck as they swoop down the street during the race on August 27, the educational experience plays a major role in this race to the finish line.

Koko holds one-week workshops in July and August where trial-and-error and ingenuity come in handy as they engineer their chariots. The students from ages 7-12 design and construct functional, eco-friendly racers out of recycled materials.

In a lot sandwiched between Iglesia Pentecostal Misionera (239 17th Street near 5th Avenue) and the Bagel Factory, the masterminds are working away with counselors on hand to assist.

Open Source Gallery Artistic Director Monika Wuhrer may be at the helm of the gallery, but she’s extremely hands-on with the students. However she and the counselors want to find the balance between assisting and allowing students to realize their projects.

“The kids do their own thing,” said Wuhrer. “They come up with their own ideas and take it from there.”

The workshop and derby are beloved traditions.

Last year, Daniel Paterna‘s photography exhibit Bklyn Downhill: The Lost Art of Combining, 2X4’s and Wheels on the Streets of Brooklyn served as a hyper-revisualization of a tradition that was at one time part of the fabric of growing up in an urban environment. The collection serves as a chronicle of sorts for the 2015 derby.

“I heard about the camp [the soapbox derby and workshop] and wanted to give my son and daughter a chance to have a similar experience that I did as a child,” said Paterna, when we spoke about his exhibit last year. The photographer and father grew up in Bensonhurst building go-carts, a “more hardscrabble” version of soap box cars.

“I saw these kids out on the sidewalk, and was mesmerized,” he said. So photographing the derby was his way to be involved. “I wanted to capture the movement of soapboxes. I was shooting them within the context of their surroundings.” He’s amazed by the way in which Monika organizes the program. “I don’t know how Monika does it,” he said.

Families and fans will head out to the competition on Saturday, along with a four-judge panel which includes Council Member Carlos Menchaca, Claudia Joseph (Director of Environmental Education, Old Stone House), Yoni Kallai (Board of Directors, play:ground), and Peter Reich (Board of Directors, Recycle-A-Bicycle).

If you’re coming out to cheer them on, here’s what you need to know:

The Event Rundown: 9th Annual South Slope Derby
When: Saturday, August 27, 12pm
Starting Area: In front of Open Source Gallery (306 17th Street at 6th Avenue)
How much: Cheering on the racers is free!