Delectable mural by MIAD alum spotlights Filipino food

Amira Humes, Knorr mural, 2023.

One alum from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) has found her niche: illustrating mouthwatering depictions of Filipino cuisine. Amira Humes ’21 (Illustration) was recently selected to design a mural, located in Brooklyn, New York, featuring a favorite Filipino dish.

The mural, created in collaboration with dry food brand Knorr for their “Taste of Home” campaign, showcases the company’s tamarind soup mix in her mother’s sinigang dish, along with other Filipino ingredients. “This was an incredible opportunity for me and so humbling that I was able to represent my community!” says Humes. “It felt so inspiring and I got to meet so many talented individuals!”

Humes has carved a niche for herself in the food illustration industry, most recently writing and illustrating A Very Asian Guide to Filipino Food, a children’s book about Filipino cuisine. As an author and illustrator, Humes draws on her Filipino-American heritage to inform her work. “I wanted to make sure maybe somebody could look at this book and go, ‘that’s me. I resonate with that character,’” she says.

Drawing on the same desire to celebrate and represent Filipino culture and flavors, Humes created the Knorr mural with a desire to share the joy of Filipino cooking. Quoted in the Asian Journal, Humes says that being selected to create the mural “felt unbelievable … When I got the email, I was like ‘Wow, they know who I am,’ and that little me from a small town in Michigan was able to create a piece of artwork that gained attention from a company as big as Knorr and for them to say that they wanted me to create something for them, it made me feel like all of the hard work and the effort and the support that’s been behind me since the beginning wasn’t for nothing.”

Knorr’s “Taste of Home” campaign celebrates the rich food culture of diverse communities in North America. According to their press release, Knorr also collaborated with Vietnamese-American artist Faith Cao (@caoculator) for another mural in Denver, CO. The installations serve as a visual representation of the profound impact that authentic flavors can have on an individual’s life, inspiring them to share their art and stories with the world.

Humes continues in the Asian Journal, “I wanted to be someone that can inspire somebody else and use my artwork as a platform to shine a light on us and let people know who we are.”

Read more about Humes’ book, keep up with her work and learn more about MIAD’s Illustration major!