Wisconsin artist and social media star Ike Wynter turns giant ‘Top Chef’ set piece into work of art

Like “Top Chef” cheftestants use ingredients, utensils, pots, pans and appliances to bring their masterpieces to life, local wood artist Isaac Wynter Weins uses reclaimed wood, saws, a sander and background tuneage.

Having salvaged the ginormous wooden backdrop used in the home kitchen of “Top Chef: Wisconsin,” Visit Milwaukee reached out to Weins — known to his massive social media following as Ike Wynter — to see if he’d be down to help them repurpose some of it.

His own Quickfire Challenge of sorts: Create Visit Milwaukee’s new-ish logo out of the backdrop’s wood. Weins’ style of art is cutting pieces of reclaimed wood to fit together like a puzzle, never using stains or paints.

Spoiler alert: Weins would succeed in the challenge, just like Visit Milwaukee did in helping bring “Top Chef” to the state.

The Emmy-, James Beard- and Critics’ Choice Award-winning series filmed its 21st season in Milwaukee and Madison in 2023. It aired the following year, with Milwaukee chef/restaurant owner Dan Jacobs making it all the way to the finale.

“The artwork pays homage to the ‘Top Chef’ legacy in Wisconsin and the city’s thriving culinary industry, but it is also a nod to the spirit of creativity, sustainability and community that defines the destination,” a news release from Visit Milwaukee said.

While many of Weins’ works live in his Butler studio, at private locations and on social media, this new piece — commissioned by Visit Milwaukee — will call one of the city’s most iconic destinations home: The Milwaukee Public Market (as seen on “Top Chef”).

“I’m excited for that to hit me,” Weins said. “It hasn’t hit me yet.”

Growing up in the area, Weins said it’s been a dream of his to have his art displayed at prominent Milwaukee landmarks.

“This is definitely going to be a big one for me and a very cool opportunity,” he said. “I think I have to see it hung up first to believe it.”

The Public Market is one of two places on Weins’ short list of where he takes out-of-town family and friends when they visit. The second is Unfinished Legacy, where another one of the artist’s works can be found and where he had his first gallery showing a few years back.

“We’re proud to work alongside Visit Milwaukee and an artist as creative and community-driven as Ike Wynter to bring this piece to life in our space,” Paul Schwartz, executive director of the market and BID No. 2, said, in part, in a news release. “It honors not only Milwaukee’s moment on the national culinary stage but also our shared commitment to curating public art that tells our city’s story.”

Here’s a look at how Weins made the Visit Milwaukee logo out of a “TC” backdrop, how to attend the artwork’s May 29 unveiling and more about the artist:

How Ike Wynter brought an art installation to life using a ‘Top Chef’ backdrop

Weins took one of the backdrop’s eight sections — he estimated each to be around 10-feet-by-12-feet — back to his studio and cut out a giant chunk from it to use for the project.

Some of that wood was lath, wood behind walls, from Milwaukee homes.

Knowing where the piece would be installed in the market — on the second-floor landing of the southwest staircase — he wanted the artwork’s angles to align with the spot.

He mocked up rough sketches, made initial cuts and swung by the market multiple times to make sure he was getting those angles right. For tools, he used a jigsaw, scroll saw and table saw.

“It was very free-flowing and (Visit Milwaukee) gave me a lot of creative control with it,” he said. “It was kind of like, ‘What looks right?’ and ‘What’s going to look eye-catching as people walk up the staircase?'”

The final result was an around 4-foot-by-5-foot art installation, which took Weins about 20 hours to create.

When will the art installation be unveiled to the public?

An event to publicly unveil the piece — named after Visit Milwaukee’s tagline, “Fresh. Flavor. Forward” — will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. May 29 at the Public Market, 400 N. Water St., Milwaukee. The piece made its private debut earlier this month at Visit Milwaukee’s annual meeting at American Family Field.

At 4:30 p.m., there will be remarks from Weins, as well as leaders from Visit Milwaukee and the market.

Some of Weins’ other works will also be on display for the event, including his giant wooden Crayola crayon box that circulated on social media last summer.

“As more of a social media-driven artist, I don’t get to do a lot of in-person events,” Weins said. “To have more of a formal unveiling in front of an audience is going to be very cool as far as things I’ve gotten to do.”

And, Weins has gotten to do some pretty darn cool things …

Before Weins became a full-time artist, he was in the hardcore metal band Narrow Hearts, then started a junk removal business with his older brother.

It was during that time that Weins found art as a way to not let the discarded wood the business collected go to waste. In 2021, Wynter moved to Minneapolis in pursuit of his artistic passions.

Soon after, he’d split his time between his own dream and helping make the dreams of others come true, working as a tour manager for the Los Angeles-based Dream Machine Foundation.

A couple years ago, Weins moved back to the Milwaukee area and took his art full-time. His muses: Nostalgia and mental health awareness.

Essentially, Weins stumbles across or hunts for discarded wood, whether it’s in the form of tables, crates, dressers, drawers or doors. Sometimes, he finds it on the side of the road. Other times, he dumpster-dives.

He waits for imperfectly perfect pieces in the colors he needs to bring his artistic visions to life. Or sometimes, it’s the wood — the color or texture — that sparks the inspo.

The piece that helped launch Weins’ social media career a couple years back was one he made for former boxing champ Mike Tyson.

Since then, his work has included a custom piece for Brewers legend Robin Yount to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his debut; a replica of the NHL’s Stanley Cup to raise funds for former professional hockey player Brent Sopel’s nonprofit; a Polaroid camera with interchangeable photos; Legos; a depiction from “Giannis: The Marvelous Journey”; and a Father’s Day surprise for “Power Ranger” and singer Chance Perez.

If you tuned into this year’s NFL Draft in Green Bay, you’ve probably already seen Weins’ work. He transformed the league’s 32 team logos into wooden mosaics, which were displayed in the Player Walkway. Several draft picks interacted with the pieces as they made their way through it.

Weins has been in the national spotlight multiple times, including being featured by “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” the “Today” show, “Pattrn” on The Weather Channel and Sports Illustrated.

What’s next for Weins? He’ll be a live performance artist at Summerfest this year.

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