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 Berns Steak House wine warehouse. The street artist has murals all over the world, as well as pieces at the Modern Museum of 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 Musks SpaceX commissioned the artist to create indestructible artworks to commemorate the shuttles first trip to the ISS.

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

Titled Evangelines 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 Berns, had a meal there and took a tour. Using a color palette made up of the deep reds of the restaurants 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. Theyre instantly recognizable as Eatons 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 artists 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.

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.

Eaton said the plates at the space station 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, he wrote. "For a better future, we can do it again.

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