From Sticks to Strokes: Drum Art Nashville Reclaims Used Instruments for Art

By Selena Haynes

If you look around, you can find art in anything. If you have an artistic gift, you can make art with anything. This is evidenced by Kristin Johannigmeier who owns Drum Art Nashville. Kristin is a Nashville-based artist who finds the artistic potential in an object most of us would never imagine to be art — drum heads.

In case you are unfamiliar with percussion, drum heads are the detachable, plastic surfaces on the top and bottom of the drum that produce the sound when struck. These do have to be changed out every so often due to use. Instead of sending them to a landfill, Kristin reclaims them and turns them into canvases for custom pieces. 

Selena Haynes: When did you begin Drum Art Nashville? 

Kristin Johannigmeier: I started this project in 2008 but it was stopped for a while. I started it back up in 2022.  

SH: Why did you begin Drum Art Nashville? 

KJ: I had the idea of action art when I first started it with drummers dipping the sticks in paint and then beating out the music on the drumhead. The custom stenciling came later. I still do action art from time to time. It was an idea that suddenly came to me and I had to try it. 

SH: Where did you get the idea from? 

KJ: It just came to me one day. I bounced the idea around and got crazy looks but couldn’t shake it. I finally bought my first cheap used drum set and got with Zack Murphy — the former drummer of Blackfoot Gypsies at the time and the current drummer of Dee Oh Gee — and did it. 

SH: How many events do you attend each year? 

KJ: More and more each year. This year it’s at about eight and I hope to add more. Last year it was about four.

SH: What’s your most favorite piece? 

KJ: I recently did a stencil of Allison from the breakfast club with the caption “Stay Weird”. I think it’s very important advice.

SH: Can people request certain artwork to be created? 

KJ: Yes, I do commissions. 

To view Kristin’s works or request a commission, visit https://drumartnashville.com/.