Thankfully for artist Katie Denholm, the clouds didn’t rain on her artwork before it was complete this past weekend.

Denholm learned recently that Tonganoxie United Methodist Church was in the market for a muralist on the back exterior wall (south side) of Grounded Coffeehouse. TUMC oversees the coffee shop and Venue 304 in downtown Tonganoxie.

Shawn F. Linenberger/Staff

“My name kind of got brought up throughout the mix,” she said. “They reached out to me.”

A 2023 Tonganoxie High School graduate, Denholm interviewed with Kirsten Robinson, youth ministry and adult discipleship director, and Shebli Vye, manager at Grounded and later agreed to doing the mural at the beginning of the summer.

Officials had paint picked out for the mural, which they stipulated also needed to incorporate angel wings.

For anyone who sits down for coffee near the coffee counter at Grounded, the mural is just on the other side of the wall between the two south-facing windows in the alleyway.

“The design was probably the longest part of the process,” Denholm explained. “It took about a month or so to get a good design ready. Then it took me three days to get the sketch and get it painted.”

Denholm said the sketch took longer because she was juggling work and summer classes while creating the draft for her mural.

Vye said Tuesday morning inside the coffee shop that she was impressed with the final product.

“I can only do stick figures, so this was just blew my mind.” Vye said.

Denholm used prominent colors at the bottom of the mural and then gradually used softer colors as the mural headed upward.

Denholm started painting the mural Friday and finished up Saturday — just in time. Heavy rains rolled through the area about an hour later.

Vye said the idea for a mural at the coffee shop came through inspiration from other coffee shops in the Kansas City area that had murals. Folks at the church and Grounded wanted to “spice it up” and put a mural that, it’s hoped, will become a destination and photo opportunity for visitors. There’s also discussion of potentially adding additional murals down the road.

This marked the first mural for the 19-year-old Denholm.

Art happens to be a spare-time activity for her, as Denholm currently is going to Washburn University to study forensics science.

“The art is a hobby I enjoy doing,” she said.

Denholm previously showed artwork at Lincoln Dining Hall on the WU campus in Topeka as well.

As for her Tonganoxie project, Denholm appreciated how it came out.

“It was a pretty fun process,” Denholm said. “And really nice they reached out to me.

“It was nice to be able to leave a mark on the town and share some of my own art with my hometown.”

Vye reiterated how impressed she was with Denholm’s work.

“My initial reaction was ‘wow,’ Vye said. “I mean it was amazement. I was full of gratitude that someone took time out of their day to make that happen.”