Most people listen to vinyl; some go as far as to frame their favorite record sleeves and display them proudly on their walls while others use them as a blank canvas. On Feb. 23 you can see and purchase repurposed record art at the 4th annual Beats & Brushstrokes silent auction hosted by the UO Emerging Leaders in the Arts Network (ELAN). But make sure to get there early; last year’s event quickly reached capacity, and there was a line out the door.

“People melt records into bowls and get really creative with it,” says Danielle Walter, ELAN’s administrative chair and a graduate student in the Arts and Administration Program at the UO.

“There’s an iguana,” ELAN co-chair Savannah Barrett says. They both laugh. Barrett is in the same program as Walter at the UO; they are specializing in community arts. Leading up to the event, ELAN hosted four record art-making parties, two at the Jordan Schnitzer and two at MECCA. In addition to iguanas and bowls, there will be more than 70 artworks, including vinyl jewelry, 2D record art and journals bound in vinyl or album art.

The fundraising is for ELAN’s ArtsVenture, a professional development program that sends UO arts administration students to other cities to meet with arts and cultural organizations. Last year ArtsVenture sent students to Bend; this April, they are going to Seattle to meet with leaders from Seattle’s Arts & Cultural Affairs, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Frye Museum, the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the One Million Bones project.

“What’s really great about ArtsVenture is that it really does provide these emerging leaders a great opportunity to understand the variety of options that are available to them, but also gives them ideas of what they could do in their own city,” Barrett says. “We learned from the Arts and Economic Prosperity Study that was just done in Eugene that the arts have a pretty large pay off in terms of economic stimulation in this city. So it makes sense for a city to support its emerging leaders.”

The event brought in $1,500 last year; the goal this year is to raise $2,000. There will be hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and Portland’s DJ Leftovers will be spinning — you guessed it — vinyl.

Beats and Brushstrokes starts spinning 7 pm Saturday, Feb. 23, at Crossfit Evviva, 234 W. 6th Ave.; $5 (cover includes food and drink).