Greensburg Salem students help decorate CD Warehouse's vinyl section

Mike Casper always has some vinyl records lying around.

“We get a lot of vinyl donated, and a lot of times people will bring things in they don’t have the (record) sleeves for anymore and we can’t do much with those,” said Casper, an employee at CD Warehouse in Hempfield. “So instead of just throwing them away, I’ve tried to find some ways to repurpose them.”

One of them was a collaboration with more than 20 Greensburg Salem students, who each received a record to decorate as part of an art installation now on display at the store.

Casper said Greensburg Salem visual arts teacher Darryl Audia initially approached him with the idea.

“I had some vinyl I was able to give to him, and it turned out to be a great little project,” Casper said.

Twenty-one students painted vinyl records that are laid out in a grid at the entrance to CD Warehouse’s vinyl section.

Wesley Heverly, 18, of Greensburg, chose to decorate his record with daisies, sticking with the plant-based theme that runs throughout the collection.

“I had an absolute blast doing it,” Heverly said. “It was one of my favorite projects we did in Mr. Audia’s Drawing III class.”

Students used primer as a first coat, then sketched out their ideas and began bringing them to life. Heverly used paint markers to create his design.

“It was actually pretty easy to sketch over top the grooves in the record,” Heverly said. “The paint markers are really cool. They dry really quickly.”

Audia said the project was a win-win for his students.

“CD Warehouse donated enough records that the kids could paint a record for the display, and also got to paint one they could keep,” Audia said. “Most high schoolers are really into music, and so there’s a chance a lot of them will see it. The novelty of painting on something that’s not a traditional canvas is also interesting for them.”

The following Greensburg Salem students were part of the project: Abbagail Kearley, Addision Daugherty, Anna Berlingo, Arianny Rodriguez Toribio, Cecilia Ecklund, Hope Shrum, Jenna Murphy, J’Taime Hill, Kaidence Gregg, Laila Kerns, Lauren King, Lily Slavnik, Lola Slavnik, Wesley Heverly, Madison Hull, Paige Kline, Rubee Stillwagon, Isaac Rebar, Sydney Dainty, Tieanna Ventura and Trey Rosensteel.

“These kids are upper-level students who are pretty skilled,” Audia said. “My wife and I are both art teachers at the high school, and we just want to make as many authentic connections to our community as possible, in real-world places where art exists.”