Uplifting new Starbucks merch collaboration honors Latin American culture

By Heidi Peiper • August 29, 2023 • 2 min read

As a child living in Florida, Manuela Guillén would often lie in the prairie grass and watch the clouds high above. In her mind, she’d imagine them transforming into wondrous shapes. Those daydreams became the inspiration for her first series of paintings, and the beginning of her artistic career. In college, she began to tell the story of her parents’ journey to the United States from Cuba and El Salvador through her art.

“I know the story of these places, and they became my stories,” she said. “It’s a feeling of nostalgia, but also of longing.”

Now an artist, muralist, painter, illustrator and educator in Philadelphia, Guillén has collaborated with Starbucks for a new merchandise collection that honors Latin American culture, available in participating U.S. Starbucks stores this fall. Her designs are the latest of the Starbucks Artist Collaboration Series, which celebrates the unique stories of artists from all over the world.

“I think community comes first for me,” Guillén said. “When I want to put my art in the world, I try to put everyone in my mind. My art is connecting with people and the earth.”

The stainless steel tumbler, “Manuela Dream,” is a fanciful self-portrait in profile, her long hair adorned with colorful nature-inspired motifs against a white canvas.

“It’s like a burst, a party, a piñata in the hair. I wanted it to feel like a celebration.”

The words “buenas vibras,” (which means “good vibes”) describe the joyful mood of this design, which features doodle-style drawings with an array of colorful plants, butterflies, birds and a friendly jaguar. Both sunshine and rain are represented on the cup.

“When you think about Latin America – we’re a very diverse group. People may ski in the south or live near the beach in the Caribbean. I am hoping it’s a beautiful little collection where people can see themselves.”

The design for the 24-ounce cold cup features a playful and bilingual design capped off with a heart-shaped straw. A central figure reaches toward the sky, with the sun’s rays forming a bridge between two hands. The scene is framed with agave plants and two little palm trees that recall her early paintings.

“I wanted to play with text. On one part of the arm it says ‘hola,’ and on the other it says ‘hi.’ I wanted to show duality that a lot of first-generation people feel, you can live both these things. It’s part of who I am.”

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