Indy CD & Vinyl and the Art of Music Experience
Words and Photos by Lydia Norton
Walking into the Harvest Pavilion at the 2025 Indiana State Fair feels like stepping into a kaleidoscope of color and sound. Vibrant album covers spanning decades line the walls, and neon signs with names like Bon Jovi and Baby Face glow overhead— all part of the carefully curated Art of Music Experience. Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” plays throughout the hall as visitors mill about the space, pointing out favorite albums and reliving memories.
The Art of Music Experience is an immersive art exhibit built to explore history through music and invite viewers to consider the lines between album art and commercial advertising. Upon entering, visitors are welcomed by concert lighting illuminating several grids of standard-sized album covers, arranged to blend and create large collage pieces. As visitors move deeper into the exhibit, they appear almost miniature as towering recreations of Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope or Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees are unveiled. From roughly 1981 to 2004, record stores would place large-scale album covers in their windows to advertise new albums. These album covers didn’t just appear out of thin air. They were carefully hand-painted by artists, and later collected by the Art of Music Experience. Visitors at this year’s Indiana State Fair had the opportunity to watch artists live-paint three albums: the Grateful Dead’s The Music Never Stopped, Machine Gun Kelly’s Lost Americana, and The Wes Montgomery Trio’s A Dynamic New Sound. The Art of Music Experience is the centerpiece of this year’s Indiana State Fair theme: the “Soundtrack of Summer.”
The exhibit includes more than visual elements, too. In partnership with the exhibition and the Indiana State Fair, Indy CD & Vinyl owners Andy and Annie Skinner created a pop-up store in the exhibition, mirroring their own brick-and-mortar store in Broad Ripple. To Skinner, Indy CD & Vinyl provides the “connective tissue” for the exhibition. After visitors take in the expansive collection of neon signs and album advertisements, they have the opportunity to hold, buy, and take home the albums they love–turning nostalgia into something tangible.
“ It's a fantastic marriage between an independently owned store that is Indiana's most awarded record shop, combining with this juggernaut that is the state fair,” Skinner says.
Vinyl Revival
The exhibit is called “Vinyl Revival,” yet to Skinner, vinyl was never truly gone.
“ The vinyl revival to me speaks to bringing back awareness of the fact that physical media didn't go away,” Skinner says.
Throughout the fair, Skinner has observed a wide range of music fans: younger generations buying core classics to build their foundation, and more mature generations looking further into contemporary artists. Browsing the diverse music titles sparks intergenerational conversations, which to Skinner, is essential to the exhibit’s purpose: connecting people through shared memory and cultural history.
“That is the vinyl revival,” Skinner says.
Spinning Support, Growing Community
At the end of the 17-day-long Indiana State Fair, it’s estimated Andy and Annie saw one million people pass through, all of whom had the opportunity to immerse themselves in music’s rich history and rediscover physical media. Skinner points out that with minimal government support for artists, many rely on physical media sales to sustain their careers. When someone buys a vinyl record or CD, they’re not just supporting the record store; they’re also contributing to a broader ecosystem of local businesses, including the artists themselves.
“ What it does for the creative community here is show a million people who walk through here over 17 days that physical media isn't a fad, it's part of the state economy,” Skinner says.
Indy CD & Vinyl is continuing to invest in Indiana’s creative economy, as they work towards expanding their record store to include a 200-capacity, all-ages community venue, called the 808. Skinner attributes their success to Indianapolis’s outlets for “do-it-yourself creativity” and peers in the local music industry.
“ I think that there is a community aspect here where if any one of us fails, it's a failure for the city. A lot of us believe that a rising tide lifts all ships,” Skinner says.
The Indiana State Fair is the first state fair to opt for the Art of Music Experience. Skinner says now other states are looking at the exhibit for their own events. While the fair has come to a close, the exhibit stands as a clear example of how Indiana’s creative economy is driven by storytelling, local artists, and cultural investment.
