‘There’s Nothing Else Like This Event’

Andrew Schuster ’20 showed up to the inaugural Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race in 2016 expecting to earn a little extra credit.

Instead, the first-year graphic design major was handed a jumpsuit and some cardboard dragonfly wings and told to climb aboard a human-powered sculpture for a seven-mile race through Lowell.

“I literally just got thrown into it,” recalls Schuster, who was offered extra credit to help with the event by Art and Design Assistant Teaching Professor Michael Roundy, the race’s director. “And from there, I was hooked.” 

A decade later, Schuster is still hooked. The Lowell native is now the race’s creative director, helping shape the branding, marketing and playful atmosphere of the free, family-friendly STEAM spectacle, where whimsical machines navigate cobblestone streets, a mud pit and the Merrimack River. 

“It’s art, it’s music, it’s culture. It’s just wackiness,” says Schuster, who has volunteered with the race nearly every year since its inception. He has served as a “Mad Marshal” — biking the course in a banana costume while guiding sculptures and interacting with spectators — and later became head marshal. In 2024, he took on the volunteer role of creative director.

For Schuster, the race provides a rare opportunity for people to set aside their usual routines and embrace their inner “nerd” — whether they are building a sculpture from welded bicycles, dressing as a pirate or cheering as an elaborate machine attempts to navigate the course.

“There’s nothing else like this event,” Schuster says. “It’s so energetic, and it gives people a chance to step outside of their normal reality and just have fun with art and creativity.”

Graphic design was not Schuster’s original plan. At Lowell High School, he was involved in the Air Force Junior ROTC program and expected to pursue a military career. But after a teacher nominated him for a national design award, which he then won, Schuster decided to give art a chance. 

While studying graphic design at UML, he completed an apprenticeship with Life Is Good and later did freelance work for the company. After graduating in 2020, he worked in digital marketing and design at Boston-based 829 Studios, where he developed campaigns and visual assets for clients including Hasbro and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 

In 2022, Schuster joined ’47, a Massachusetts-based sports lifestyle brand known for its officially licensed hats, apparel and gear. He designs lifestyle apparel and helps develop special campaigns and fan experiences for professional sports teams, including the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, as well as for major events such as the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup. 

One of the most rewarding parts of the job, he says, is seeing people wearing something he designed.

“If I go to a Red Sox game, I’ll see people wearing my stuff all the time. I’m like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever,’” Schuster says. Through his own design studio, Plastic Astronaut, Schuster has also done freelance work for clients including Timberland and Red Bull, developing visual identities, logos and marketing materials.

Schuster credits his graphic design classmates and professors with challenging him to think more creatively and pushing him toward excellence. Many of those former classmates now work for companies such as Nike and Under Armour, while his professors remain “incredible mentors, connections and friends.” He remains an enthusiastic advocate for the university’s Art and Design program.

“I feel like the program still gets slept on, but it’s just so good,” he says. “There’s so much talent and energy and support there.”

As creative director for the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Schuster now has the opportunity to provide current students with the kind of hands-on experience that helped shape his own career. He has worked with UML students and alumni on race branding, social media and outreach, helping them apply their skills to a public event that reaches thousands of people.

Schuster continues to volunteer his time, fitting the race work around his full-time design career. The commitment can be demanding, especially as race day approaches, but he considers it a labor of love. 

“Who can realistically say that in their life they were a part of making an art sculpture race happen in their hometown where thousands of people are looking forward to it every year?” he says. “That’s so cool to me.”