Sound art: Students turn vinyl records into paintings

Students sit around a table painting records and talking.

Students share ideas around a table during the Free Art Friday: Painted Vinyl Records event. Photo by Paige Valley

When the weather is cold and the days are short, it can feel easy to wrap up your week by staying inside your warm apartment, scrolling through social media and procrastinating doing your homework. We’ve all been there.

But the Wisconsin Union offers an alternative way to spend your Friday nights that’s a lot more fun.

Every other week, Wheelhouse Studios, located on the bottom level of Memorial Union, offers Free Art Fridays, where students get supplies and direction to create art projects ranging from chicken plush toys to trucker hats to watercolors.

On Friday, Jan. 31, Wheelhouse Studios and WUD Music collaborated on the first Free Art Friday of the semester, inviting participants to paint vinyl records.

Students at Friday’s event said they appreciated that the art events are a great way to “relax and chill,” and are especially good for students looking for an alternative to partying.

“I think that having these kind of accessible events makes the campus a lot more accepting for those students that can’t really afford to go somewhere because they don’t have a car to get vinyls that they can paint on their own,” says Angelica Chang, a May 2024 graduate who’s preparing for medical school.

Sophomore Shaurya Khati said students always deserve a break. “We’re all running around with our lives and we always have something next to look forward to,” Khati says. “But I think it’s really important that we can slow down and really deliberate on something, so I think events like these are places where you can actually do that.”

We talked with several Badgers about their inspirations.

Two women hold up vinyl records that they painted.

Sisters O'Malley (left) and O'Ryion Thompson, both students, show off their paintings. O'Malley said she saw the flyer for the event and "I texted my sister and told her we needed to go." O'Ryion said: “I did not come in with any inspiration but I also went on Pinterest and am taking some creative liberties." Photo by Paige Valley

A woman paints on her hand with blue paint as she sits at a table where students are painting.

O'Malley Thompson paints her hand. “I’m not really a painter, I like pottery more but I went on Pinterest before and searched some cool ideas and I saw a handprint design so I’m going to try that out.” Photo by Paige Valley

Shaurya Khati, a sophomore computer science major, shows his creation. “I was mostly looking for albums from artists that I like and I listen to a lot of classical music so when I saw they had Bach, I was like, ‘that’s really cool’ so I picked that up. I’m drawing a jungle because I recently went to India and I got inspired from all the greenery there.” Photo by Paige Valley

Khati works on his vinyl art. "I think students always deserve a break," he said of the event. Photo by Paige Valley

Two women look at each other and talk across a table filled with people painting vinyl records.

Sophomores Komal Kaur (left) and Anisha Bhalla paint their vinyl records. “I found an album cover for a song in the language I speak (Punjabi) and I just listened to it, so I’m going to try to replicate it today,” Bhalla said. Kaur added: "I got inspiration from my friend and I think I’m going to do an album cover in my language (also Punjabi).” Anisha's song was "Be Mine" by Shubh, and Komal's was "Only You" by Armaan Gill + Arnaaz Gill. Photo by Paige Valley