Siricasso at Baja Cocina
6/3/2026
Siriaco Garcia is a prolific Chicano artist who has installed more than 60 commissioned murals in central Iowa and Minnesota under his nom de plume Siricasso. To our mind, he is redefining 21st century Iowa more than anyone else. Siricasso has covered walls mostly with scenes of hope and assimilation. He also paints more personal scenes that are ripped from his own evolving life story.
We asked him to lunch, and he chose Pedro and Claudia Cruz’ La Baja Cocina Mexicana, just plain “Baja Cocina” to most fans. Over street tacos, beans, rice, eggs, Jarritos, Mexican Coke, and both corn and flour tortillas, we talked about his 30 years voyage of self-discovery.
First, what does he like about Baja Cocina?
“My mural here was my first in Des Moines itself not Ames or Marshalltown. This patio was where I held my first ‘Sip n Paint’ activation in Des Moines rather than in Ames. We had a grant, so I made it free. I brought 100 canvasses for kids and others to paint on. We ran out and had to go buy more. Then Wells Fargo commissioned the mural, and Wells Fargo employees came for four days to help paint it. That led to another activation at Columbus Park. I love the community aspect of my art. I really feel that here.”
The mural in Baja Cocina depicts typical Day of the Dead iconography — skeletons in mariachi suits, sunflowers, musical instruments. And then, there’s the Iowa State Capitol? Talk about mergence.
“I identify with that — Iowa and ancient rituals, Aztec dancers and the Virgin Mary, Kickapoo and Apache, Chicano and mainstream. That’s my life.”
In a recent show at Moberg Galley, more personal, painful stories were told. What is Siricasso’s life story in 10 minutes?
“I was born in Faribault, Minnesota. I moved 12 or 13 times between elementary and high school. Sometimes we moved three times in a single school year. Mostly we moved between Minnesota and Eagle Pass, Texas. My family has roots in South Texas that go back generations.
“My father was in and out of prison and drug rehab, and my mom did her best to take care of me and four younger siblings, plus three older brothers by different fathers. But that (stress) got to her. She started hanging out with the wrong people, and she was arrested, her papers were ‘lost’ by authorities and she was sent to retention for deportation in Omaha. My aunt Rita in Ames took us in.
“In seventh grade in Texas, I got in trouble painting graffiti and having an Exacto knife in school. I was sent to an alternative school, but I was the only Latino kid there and didn’t fit in. I was sent to live with my aunt in Iowa. I had one Walmart bag with all my clothes in it. We didn’t wear shoes much in south Texas. I remember getting a $60 pair of shoes for my birthday and an iPad. That opened up dreams of art and music.
“But I got in fights, and my aunt gave me a last chance. I found a job at McDonald’s and a great art teacher at Ames High, Shelli Hassebrock. I had an art show in high school, and the Ames Tribune wrote about it. I got a scholarship offer from Marshalltown Community College (MCC). That made me the first member of my family ever to go to college. MCC changed my life, maybe saved it. It showed me that my dream of living as an artist was possible. I also met my wife there.”
That story has to be a romance worth telling?
“I was always looking for scholarships to afford to stay in college. I worked with a counselor who helped me find them. I had seen her daughter Stephanie a couple times there and thought, ‘She’s so beautiful.’ Then I gave a speech to 1,000 students in my second year there. Stephanie sent me a Facebook message afterwards, and that message was all I could think about until I introduced myself to her. She was sitting in the bleachers, and our eyes locked. We talked for three hours until they turned the lights off. Since I was a student ambassador, I offered her a tour of the campus. Then we went to McDonald’s and talked another hour. What can I say? We have three kids — Siena, Santiago and Siriaco — and have been married 11 years.”
While most of Siricasso’s murals are happy scenes of assimilation and gaiety, his smaller paintings are more biographical. One, “The Coolest People in the World Hide Out in Iowa,” includes 36 separate painted panels, with subjects ranging from Caitlyn Clark to a firefighter dressed like a luchador. Another depicts one of the worst moments of Siricasso’s life.
“That one is from my mom’s deportation hearing in Omaha. The proceedings were surreal. The judge was present only through a TV monitor. Mom was in a striped jump suit, like an animal. The painting is of the moment after he pronounced sentence and she pleaded with him to allow her to hug her son.”
Most paintings and murals are full of vibrant colors. Were they always his choice of media?
“No, the opposite. I only used pencil and colored pencil for years. Black and white were my colors, maybe because that was how I saw life. I hated paints. I lacked the patience to use paints, all the layering. I hated traditional subjects, especially still life fruit. I changed before my media of choice became colorful.”
Who are artists he admires?
“Lyle Miller. He’s a great Lakota artist, and our stories are very similar. We did a residency together in Mitchell, South Dakota. His art talks the talk of real life. Mr. Cartoon and David Gonzales. They are Chicano artists. I got my ‘Smile and Cry Later’ theme with clowns from them.”
Siricasso paints on just about anything that is handy.
“I have painted shoes, jackets, light cases, jeans, masks — especially during COVID — socks, jeans, car hoods, ceilings, floors, chairs.”
Where can one find Siricasso merch?
It is https://siricasso.bigcartel.com. Somehow, I lost my domain name after five years. One day I clicked on it, and it had become a Chinese gambling site. So now I go through bigcartel.com.” ♦
Jim Duncan is a food and art writer who has been covering the central Iowa scene for more than five decades.
