Milwaukee woodworking artist Ike Wynter has spent the past several years turning other people's trash into tributes for the Brewers and the Packers, building every piece from reclaimed wood without a drop of stain or paint. He recently caught a Packers game at Lambeau Field and the Brewers' NLCS Game 1 at American Family Field on October 11, and his work includes mosaics and installations.
Wynter's artistic rule is strict and unbending: every project is built entirely from salvaged wood pulled from dumpsters, curb drop-offs, and donated furniture, with no stains, paints, or synthetic colorings allowed, according to the IKE WYNTER Official Site. That constraint forces him to hunt for specific natural wood tones in whatever discarded material he can find, rather than mixing a color from a can.
From Yelich's Charity Stage to the Brewers' Team Store
Christian Yelich's 2026 Home Plate charity concert was held at Milwaukee's Landmark Credit Union Live venue and headlined by country artist Jake Owen, according to VISIT Milwaukee. The concert supports local charitable causes, including youth scholarships and the Brewers Community Foundation.
Beyond the charity stage, Wynter also built a Brewers City Connect “Wisco” artwork that now hangs on the 200 level above a team store at American Family Field, the WTMJ segment notes. He's made individual art pieces for players Lukas Van Ness, Evan Williams, and Barryn Sorrell, extending his reach directly into the locker room.
A Career Built on NFL Draft Logos and a Notre Dame Legacy
Wynter's work with the Packers traces back to a Packers G mosaic he built as part of the 2025 NFL Draft, held in Green Bay. That project was actually part of a much larger commission: the NFL tapped him to design and build 32 individual 3-foot-by-3-foot wooden team logo mosaics for the player walkway, a job that required more than 500 hours of labor and repurposed materials from over 50 pieces of donated Wisconsin furniture, according to the Indianapolis Recorder. The NFL selected him specifically to reflect Wisconsin's woodworking and lumber heritage in the installation.
Wynter's furthest-reaching commission landed in Indiana rather than Wisconsin. His reclaimed-wood installation for Notre Dame was built from old Notre Dame Stadium concession stands and basketball court floorboards, a project that involved about seven months of conversations and roughly 80 hours of sorting, removing nails, and planning, per ABC57. The commission carried personal weight for Wynter, reconnecting him with his grandfather's legacy as a 1943 national champion football player for Notre Dame.
From Mike Tyson's Studio to a Half-Million Followers
Wynter's path to these commissions began outside the sports world. His first major commission was a heart-shaped artwork for former heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson, an early milestone in his career, according to Family Handyman. His later work has included projects associated with Crayola and Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football.
Wynter increased his social-media sharing during the pandemic and committed himself to art by 2023. He has since built a large following, with work ranging from curb-side scavenging to NFL walkways and Notre Dame hardwood.
A Local Fixture at Milwaukee's Biggest Stages
In May 2025, Visit Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Public Market unveiled his public artwork titled Fresh, Flavor, Forward, built entirely from reclaimed wooden backdrop set pieces salvaged from Bravo's Top Chef: Wisconsin, with the piece installed on the second-floor landing of the Historic Third Ward market, per VISIT Milwaukee.
Whether the project is a national championship mosaic or another piece of sports art, Wynter's work keeps circling back to the same material philosophy: nothing new, nothing painted, nothing synthetic. It's a constraint that has carried him from Milwaukee curbs to Lambeau Field, and from a Mike Tyson commission to a university's storied athletic history.
