Area Excursions

The newly renovated Eclipse Restaurant has some out-of-this-world art by Wisconsin artist Mike Chamberlin. Chamberlin started creating his metal art by playing around with the leftovers he had in his sign shop, Vital Signs. As an eco-friendly establishment, we love that his art was born out of a desire not to waste!

Chamberlin started scratching designs into aluminum as an experiment a little over a decade ago.

“By scratching the surface of the aluminum the light reflects off the surface from different angles, creating amazing holographic effects of depth and space on a two dimensional object,” he explains. “These pieces are scratched with an array of different tools I use around the shop.”

Each piece is different depending on what light is shining on it and on the elements surrounding it.

The planets aligned just right for this work of art to end up in our Gemini Room! General Manager Paul Lauritsen met Chamberlin at an art fair years ago and fell in love with the unique way he creates his pieces. When Eclipse Restaurant was being renovated, Lauritsen commissioned Chamberlin to create seven large pieces, leaving the design and color details completely up to him to decide. And the artist sure did deliver!

We can’t wait to see all the incredible wedding and banquet photos with his pieces in the background – they’re sure to be amazing!

Need to host an out-of-this-world gathering? Check out our unique event spaces.