Cultivate Kindness

Homegrown, a daytime eatery, is a Wichita-based restaurant that was created with the philosophy “cultivate kindness.” On the Homegrown website, it says, “Whether we’re spreading sprinkles on pop tarts, sizzling up bacon, or serving up locally-sourced dishes, we believe that a little kindness can change everything.”

With a deep desire to partner with locals in order to create the best experience for customers, Homegrown is a favorite eating location for many Wichita natives and visitors. It is always bustling with customers, and now they have expanded locations to Kansas City, Des Moines, and Northwest Arkansas.

In high school, I was given the opportunity to paint an original piece for Homegrown’s very first location with the “cultivate kindness” philosophy in mind. One of my earlier commissions, I worked on a piece inspired by a memory of mine when I was picking oranges in a family friend’s California yard. Something about eating the harvest of others on a sunny morning while the birds were chirping in the background felt covered in kindness. As a believer, breaking bread together and enjoying a meal is an incredibly holy and beautiful thing to share with others.

For the past 7 or so years (wow, time flies), this piece has hung in the Maize location of Homegrown. Notecards were sold with a picture of this piece on the front, and the story behind my work was shared. To my surprise, I was asked to replace this piece with another painting this year so that the Rolfs, Homegrown’s owners, could put the original piece in their personal home. I was overjoyed to start work on another commission for the restaurant.