Then + Now: The Trophies of Soapbox Derby

The Radical Trophies of the 1970s

Not enough has been written about the trophies of SFMOMA’s 1975 and 1978 Artists’ Soapbox Derbies. For the most part, media coverage of these two outrageous community events focused on the strange cars that soared down McLaren Park’s Shelley Drive. “The real stars were the cars,” as Road + Track reported in a retelling of the 1975 Derby. “The improbable combined with the incredible and the inscrutable on the hill that day. A giant pencil. A giant moth. A giant banana. A giant peanut.”

Witnessing the improbable and inscrutable derby cars cruise down McLaren’s 800-foot hill was a spectacle the likes of which San Francisco had never seen — but the artist-made trophies the museum commissioned deserve attention as well. Awarded in categories such as Funkiest, Fastest-Looking, Most Literary, Most Humane, and Most Macabre, the trophies fueled the derby’s characterization as a precursor to Burning Man.

The trophies presented a spectacular twist on the tradition. Prizes incorporated miniature ladders, carved faces, and decapitated toy parts. Some were labeled “San Francisco Museum of Art” (as SFMOMA was then called) and included the derby’s name and year, while others were far more abstract takes on what an award could be, eschewing conventions altogether.

“If you go to a trophy aisle at Party City, there are ten different ways to interpret a trophy,” said Stella Lochman, SFMOMA’s manager of community engagement, who is steering the 2022 revival event on April 10. “Is it a ribbon, is it a cup, is it a person swinging a golf club? That’s what capitalism can give you. What can artists give you?”

Artist Robert Arneson (1930–1992) offered one of the more widely known Soapbox trophies: a sculpture of a derby racer wearing what appears to be a dunce cap. The figure is smiling, with a cigar poking out of his mouth and goggles slightly obscuring what could be a twinkling gleam in his eyes.

“There are certain names that get cemented in the canon as the decades go on, and the Arneson trophy seems to be the one that gets the spotlight the most,” ceramicist Matt Goldberg said. Goldberg creates assemblage sculptures from reclaimed materials like phone dials and tuna cans, and is building a trophy for the 2022 Soapbox Derby. “But there’s also a nice comfort in how a lot of people throughout time have contributed to the derby, been part of it, and aren’t always the name with the hyperlink on it.”

The derby was a democratizing community event, where established Bay Area artists like Arneson and Ruth Asawa created trophies alongside emerging figures in the art world. The original events championed the idea that anyone can be an artist, and that art is for everyone.

Ceramicist Coille Hooven, who is known for her porcelain sculptures exploring feminism and women’s history, created trophies for both the 1975 and 1978 derbies. Her 1975 entry depicting stacked teapots with delicate pink ruffles, ribbons, and bows was awarded to artist Don Potts for the “Best Engineered” vehicle. Hooven was then early in her career; she created the porcelain trophy just two years after her first one-woman show at Imprint Gallery in San Francisco.

For artist Mike Henderson, who built a car — “The African Queen” — for the 1975 Derby and a trophy for the 1978 event, it was a refreshing antidote to the art world taking itself too seriously at times.

“This is a museum, not a mausoleum,” said Henderson, who is designing a 2022 trophy, in a recent interview. He crafted his 1978 award with wood, found materials from thrift stores, and a small metal plaque.

SFMOMA’s trophy artists, both past and present, “make for the pure joy of making,” according to Goldberg. They have fun challenging the parameters of the trophy-making process — and that is as true in 2022 as it was in the seventies.

“There’s some fanfare around earning a trophy,” said Goldberg. “And this event feels like it starts to poke fun at, undercut, subvert, or stretch what that process can be. What becomes the coveted thing in an event like this? Can you make a trophy that people really want just because of its form, not necessarily because of the merit attached to it?”

Goldberg could have chosen to depict a racer confidently cruising down the course, soaring by their opponents to win the race, for his 2022 trophy entry. Instead, his trophy celebrates the act of crashing, with the racer flailing and colliding.

As Goldberg’s trophy humorously indicates, SFMOMA’s Soapbox Derby was more of an eccentric parade than a competitive race to the finish line, and it remains that way today. Trophies were given to the first, second, and third fastest vehicles at the 1970s events, but the slowest car also received a trophy. Many of the cars careened off course, with the derby being more about aesthetics and artwork than aerodynamics.

“I made it about a quarter of the way down the track before I crashed into the crowd,” said Henderson, without a note of regret. “The derby is about thinking outside of the box rather than being the fastest car to go down the hill.”

“I think whoever is the fastest should get nothing,” he added.

Bringing Back the Derby, Four Decades Later

Now, after a 44-year break, the Soapbox Derby is back at McLaren Park. Sixty cars will roll down the hill in individually timed trials. Participants will once again vie for homemade trophies created by local artists. Titles like “Most Amorphous” and “Best Pun” will make a return.

In keeping with tradition, the criteria for this year’s trophies are vague. The trophies must be bigger than a matchbox and smaller than a yardstick, and they must be able to be held by one person. The awards will be given out in the park’s Jerry Garcia Amphitheater by an esteemed panel of judges. One of the judges is Dorcas Moulton, who created the famous “bread car” that spectators devoured as soon as it crossed the finish line at the inaugural event. Another is Amanda Pope, who caught it all on camera for her documentary about the 1975 race.

Trophy designers include Bay Area Walls exhibition artists Liz Hernández, Leah Rosenberg, and Muzae Sesay, along with Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Jessalyn Aaland, Walter Hood, and Wanxin Zhang, and several members of SFMOMA’s staff.

Amy Lange, SFMOMA’s senior program associate of family programs, will be creating one of the 2022 trophies. Her sculptural piece will bring together a ceramic platform and plaque with a crocheted figurine to evoke a slow-moving liquid.

“As a textile artist, I thought it would be fun to crochet a trophy, something floppy and kind of the opposite of triumphant,” Lange said. “Of course, the ‘Most Amorphous’ award seemed like the perfect fit.”

Henderson is designing a trophy for the race too, and he also knows what he wants its award category to be.

“I want my trophy to go to the car that makes it a quarter of the way down the hill then crashes, in honor of The African Queen,” he said.

On April 10, 2022, the derby returns to celebrate the Bay Area’s enduring weirdness in an action-packed day full of colorful cars, imaginative trophies, and other artful surprises. If there are crashes, contemporary updates will soften the landing: helmets are required this year, and the track will be lined with protective barriers.

Joseph Becker, SFMOMA’s associate curator of architecture and design, is managing the trophy artist selection process. When asked why visitors should come to the derby, Becker laughed.

“We’re going to have sixty freaky cars flying down the hill,” Becker said. “What else do you need to know?”