SpaceX commissioned this artist for the space station. He also painted a mural in Tampa.

It was already a big deal for Tampa when Los Angeles-based artist Tristan Eaton was commissioned in 2016 to paint a mural on the Bern’s Steak House wine warehouse. The street artist has murals all over the world, as well as pieces at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Now, having a Tristan Eaton mural in Tampa is even more significant. His work was aboard the SpaceX shuttle Crew Dragon, which docked at the International Space Station on Sunday.

According to artnet.com, Elon Musk’s SpaceX commissioned the artist to create indestructible artworks to commemorate the shuttle’s first trip to the ISS.

Eaton has shown locally at Tampa’s CASS Contemporary, the gallery that commissioned the mural at Bern’s Fine Wine and Spirits (1209 S Howard Ave.) in a partnership with Bern’s to help commemorate the restaurant’s 60th anniversary.

Titled Evangeline’s Feast, the mural is on a 60- by 30-foot wall that faces Howard Avenue. Before painting it, Eaton learned about the rich history of Bern’s, had a meal there and took a tour. Using a color palette made up of the deep reds of the restaurant’s decor, the mural incorporates an image of founder Bern Laxer, details of wood from the Harry Waugh Dessert Room and names of longtime employees.

It features images of Bacchus (the Roman god of wine), Artemis (the Greek goddess of the hunt), wine bottles and Florida panthers.

For the space station, Eaton created a series of two-sided, gold, brass and aluminum plates titled Human Kind to be viewed by the five astronauts who will live at the ISS. Americans Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley brought the works with them on the Crew Dragon and docked at the ISS on Sunday.

Each plate says “Human” on one side and “Kind” on the other. They’re instantly recognizable as Eaton’s work, with collages of pop imagery including chimpanzees and rocket ships.

According to space.com, they come in protective sleeves with a front pocket containing the artist’s statement and a greeting to the astronauts. The greeting reads: “Welcome to space! Thank you for taking time to view these works I created for this expedition. Your courage and dedication is an inspiration to all of us down here on Earth. I imagine every astronaut takes a moment to digest the history and glory of where you are and what you are doing for humankind.”

The plates will come back to Earth with the Crew Dragon in a few months.

In an Instagram post, Eaton said “stay tuned” about what will happen to the artwork when it returns to Earth.

View this post on Instagram

My art is going to Space today! Thank you @spacex @nasa @atrbute ——————————————- ‘Human Kind’ by Tristan Eaton As an artist I try to look at the world with a big picture view. No one gets a bigger view of our world than our brave astronauts on the ISS. When SpaceX asked me to create art to join these astronauts in space, I wanted to make something inspirational. Looking down from space to see all of Human Kind together on this tiny planet might remind you how much history and potential we have. Yet we have so much further to go. With this in mind, I created a series of indestructible, 2 sided paintings made from gold, brass and aluminum to represent the duality of Human Kind, our past and our future. With kindness, hope and science, Human Kind has changed the world many times over. For a better future, we can do it again. Good luck Doug & Bob!!! Stay tuned to hear about what happens with the Art when it returns to Earth in 3 months!!! #launchamerica

A post shared by Tristan Eaton (@tristaneaton) on May 27, 2020 at 12:21pm PDT

“As an artist I try to look at the world with a big picture view,” he wrote in the post. “No one gets a bigger view of our world than our brave astronauts on the ISS.”