Signs of life: Artist vitalizes communities with ‘vintage’ style

Matthew Day

Staff

October 28, 2024

MENOMONIE – It turns out watching paint dry isn’t always boring.

Professional sign and mural painter Wade Lambrigtsen said standing back and enjoying a finished piece is “the best part.”  

The work he’s completed for clients through his company – Vintage Sign Shop – is observable throughout his city, and though much of the paint’s long dried, he said his enjoyment is as fresh as ever.

“I go down Main Street (in Menomonie) and there’s one particular block where every sign on that block, I’ve done,” Lambrigtsen said. “I drive my kids and my wife crazy, because a lot of times I’m coming home and I say, ‘let’s just go down this street,’ and they say, ‘yes, dad – we’ve already seen your signs a million times.’”

Lambrigtsen said it’s been 21 years since his wife Rita encouraged him to pursue sign and mural painting full-time. 

Still, amid his myriad work with Vintage Sign Shop, the international muralist collective The Walldogs and his art students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, he said he makes time to appreciate the “fingerprints” he’s left upon his community, state and country. 

Across his career, Lambrigtsen said he’s created thousands of works and counting, including signs, murals, original logo designs and vinyl graphics for businesses, schools, homes, public safety departments and more.

He said he takes extra pride in having achieved a broad customer base organically.

“My work is my advertising,” he said. “I’ve never once, in the years I’ve done this, ever done any advertising. You just do a good job for people, and make appealing work or signage and murals, and people will contact you.” 

Lamrigtsen said he’s come a long way since Vintage Sign Shop’s first year when he “made about $11.” 

“It just kind of snowballed,” he said of his business. “Now, I can’t go anywhere without people knowing me – I’m kind of ‘the sign guy’ in town.” 

More formal recognitions for Vintage Sign Shop, Lambrigtsen said, have included the Menomonie Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award in 2014, and the Downtown Menomonie Preserving Our Heritage award in 2023 and 2024.  

This fall, he was also the recipient of UW-Stout’s Luminary Alumni award.

Though he certainly appreciates the accolades, he said above all, he will continue to prize the aesthetic value he’s able to provide, particularly when he can witness his work “in the wild.”

“When you’re done and it’s up on the wall, and you’re driving by and you look at it, you think (wow),” Lambrigtsen said, “I made that – that’s pretty cool.” 

Signing up 

One of the thrills of the creative process, Lambrigtsen said, is “starting with nothing, essentially” – which also mirrors his own beginnings as a sign painter. 

“I was always interested in art in high school and always had this knack for drawing,” he said. “After high school, I joined the Marine Corps because (my family) couldn’t afford (for me) to go to college, but (art) was what I wanted to do.” 

Returning home to the Eau Claire area following his enlistment, Lambrigtsen said he fell in love with Rita, a former high school classmate, who he said convinced him to take his career in a more creative direction. 

“I was doing construction – I was a homebuilder and a carpenter – after the Marines and she said, ‘you’ve got to do something with your art and design talents,’ when I didn’t even really consider it,” he said. “So, I went to (UW-) Stout and got a degree in graphic design.” 

Most of his coursework was computer-based, though Lambrigtsen said it was the studio-centric work he especially enjoyed – fine arts like drawing and painting, as well as metalwork. 

“I loved it – it was hands-on, but I never thought I’d make a career out of it,” he said of the more tangible arts. “So, short story long, I got a job at a graphic design house – like a marketing firm – after college.” 

Working in Eau Claire, Lambrigtsen said he primarily designed brochures, newspapers and logos, but quickly learned the sedentary office life and exclusively digital medium were not for him.

A fateful errand, he said, would soon change his life. 

“My boss said, ‘hey, man, we’ve got a client who needs some signage, and you need to go down to the local sign shop and get some (pricing) quotes,’” Lambrigtsen said. “So she sent me down to this sign shop and it’s one of those things – I still get goosebumps – because I walked in and I’m thinking, ‘(wow).’ I’m seeing these things that are designed, getting built – with vinyl and paint, and vehicles getting lettered and… I was immediately hooked.”

While Lambrigtsen awaited the sign shop’s owner, he said he started talking with and even lent a hand to one of the employees – a man named Charlie – for nearly half an hour. 

“The boss came back, and we started talking, and then he said, ‘man, we are so busy’ – because he could tell I was interested – and he offered me a job,” Lambrigtsen said. “So I went back to the marketing job and said, ‘well, here’s your information – and here’s also my two-week notice.’ It was crazy, man. It was one of those things in life (where I said), ‘I think this is what I should be doing.’ So I got a job there, painting signs, vehicles and lighted signs, and I did that for about two years at that place.” 

Signs of the time 

Lambrigtsen said he cherished the work and soaked up all Charlie taught him on and off the clock until an economic downturn seemingly brought his dream job to an end.

“I got laid off, and I got back into carpentry,” he said. “Again, my wife said, ‘what are you doing?’ And we talked more about it, and then I started my own business – Vintage Sign Shop.” 

Lambrigtsen said he worked in his 10-foot-by-10-foot basement hand painting barnwood, beer-related and various “man cave” signs that he would then vend at events and festivals. 

Or at least he would try to sell them, he said.

“If it wasn’t for Rita and her support, there’s no way I’d be doing this,” he said.

Amid his struggle to sell his signs, a distant relative left Lambrigtsen a modest inheritance, which he used to purchase a vinyl plotter and a pounce machine – enabling him to expand his business into vinyl signage and mural painting.

“(The signs eventually) started selling, and I said, ‘I think I’m onto something here,’” he said. “It just kind of evolved into making more vinyl signs. We moved to Menomonie and things really took off from there. I’ve been here now for almost 20 years, doing signs.”

Lambrigtsen said his first big break arrived in 2005 when a persistent request led him to pursue what became a lucrative partnership.

“Working at the craft fairs and displaying my signs, many people would ask where (my) Leinenkugel’s signs were,” he said. “So, I had a meeting with the brewing company to make some vintage signs and have been ever since. I have currently painted more than 7,000 signs for them and three murals.” 

Classic quality 

Lambrigtsen said he has always favored aesthetics and techniques of a certain vintage.

“That was just an interest of mine,” he said. “I liked old lettering styles and old advertising – like the old Mountain Dew ads. And years ago, every city had its own brewery, and I just loved the old brewery logos. There’s a nostalgia to it – there’s a feeling of a simpler time and people can relate to it. It’s easy to read, and it’s appealing.” 

Lambrigtsen said his predilection for simple design translates to effective signage – a distinction apparently lost on many of his contemporaries. 

“I’ve always believed that less is more,” he said. “If you have a quality design, that’s going to do more for you than a bunch of bells and whistles. Right now, for some reason, really thin fonts are really popular, but if you think about looking at a sign going 35 miles an hour down the street you’ve got to be able to read it. Sometimes (artists) look at graphic design and sign design as the same thing, but they’re not.” 

Though some customers prefer more of a vintage style than others, Lambrigtsen said he always operates with old-school professionalism when a customer calls.

“I want to meet them,” he said. “I want to shake their hand and go to their place of business.”

As “every situation is different,” Lambrigtsen said he prefers eyeing up each project in person, where he can sense whether a wooden sign, vinyl lettering to a picture window or a full mural on the building will be the best approach.

“The first thing people see when they’re coming to your business is the sign and the logo, so you want to make sure it works,” he said. 

Whichever method and design is agreed upon, Lambrigtsen said he’ll order whichever materials he needs – though he prefers to do as much of the work as possible with his own two hands in the 600-square-foot paint/vinyl shop or woodworking building on his property.

“I’m a carpenter, really, when it comes down to it – who’s just got a knack for art and design,” Lambrigtsen said. “I just use older methods. Hence, ‘Vintage’ Sign Shop.” 

Painting the town(s) 

Though his business had progressed, Lambrigtsen said he sensed after about 10 years his personal knowledge had hit a proverbial wall – particularly regarding murals.  

“The hardest part of this whole thing is just learning the business part of it – doing the quotes properly and actually figuring out how to make money,” he said. “I felt like I was missing something, I was kind of sick of struggling and I thought, ‘there’s got to be a community out there.’”

Lambrigtsen said a desperate internet search led him to The Walldogs – an international art collective of muralists, sign painters, illustrators and graffiti artists who select a town, get necessary approval and convene for a four-day festival to plan and paint 15–20 murals based on local history, industry and prominent citizens.

His first year attending the festival it took place in Arcola, Illinois, he said.

“I didn’t know a single person, and I got down there and the whole city was alive – just bustling with artists from all over the world,” he said. “It’s kind of magical, really.” 

Upwards of 300 artists – paying for their own travel and volunteering their talents – will gather at Walldogs events, Lambrigtsen said, generating a mass of positivity “like Sturgis for sign painters.” 

Lambrigtsen said this was the “tribe” he’d long sought – having discovered a wealth of camaraderie, talent and business acumen, as well as a network of artists he’s since been able to call on for help with his larger projects.

“Any time I have a question or I need help, I’ve got this community I can rely on,” he said. “It was such a turning point for my business.”

Lambrigtsen said he’s attended year after year of Walldogs events since and has been honored (and paid) as a project leader for six different events.

He said he’s especially excited for 2026 when Menomonie has been designated for that year’s Walldogs Festival. 

Visit cfdunncounty.org/muralsinmenomonie for more information. 

Broad strokes

Lambrigtsen said reflecting on his expansive career provides valuable perspective amid an at-times-overfull schedule.

Whether he’s appreciating the “full circle” experience of teaching his craft at his alma mater, connecting with peers, collaborating with brand-new or iconic businesses, beautifying communities or getting to work alongside his son Aaron and daughter Mia, Lambrigtsen said sharing his experiences is what’s made life so special.

“My business wouldn’t be possible without the relationships I have made over the years,” he said. “That is really what it is all about.” 

Lambrigtsen said since the uniqueness of each project keeps his work interesting, all signs point to a continually enriching career.