By Lucius Pham, Iowa Public Radio
Tucked inside the Penn Central Mall in Oskaloosa, the Fine Arts & Cultural Events (FACE) of Mahaska County showcases diverse Iowa artists, utilizing the space’s tall, white walls to draw attention to the art. For a limited time, the Oskaloosa-based nonprofit’s studio walls tell the stories of hard-working Iowans hocking birria in the snow, protestors clamoring near the Iowa State Capitol, a father hiking with his son through the hills of Oaxaca and more.
Walking into the exhibit, visitors are greeted with a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” shot of a compact, almost toy-like taxicab and its driver, barreling down a Mexican city street. The Pokeball-colored “mototaxi,” in sharp focus, appears to whizz weightlessly past blurred streaks of color, its antenna buckling at the speed.
This photo, like many of the exhibit’s most colorful and poignant pieces, belongs to one of four collections on display from Anthony Arroyo. This particular collection is called “A Home I Never Knew,” and features portraits of rural and city life in Arroyo’s father’s birthplace in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Arroyo spoke with me over the phone, from a cafe in Tamazulapam del Progresso, where his coffee was poured from a clay pot, about his multiple collections on display in Oskaloosa, many revolving around the theme of “home.”
His photos are a real-time reckoning with “[how] departed I am from my home culture,” and how he decided “to actively go search for it.”
Finding his passion
Arroyo stumbled upon photography during his final six weeks at East High School, when he discovered an unexpected passion in journalism. He later honed his camera skills at DMACC, then Drake, and eventually was hired as a commercial photographer for companies like Raygun and Mittera Creative, photographing their products for advertising purposes.
“I treated that shit like it was the gym,” says Arroyo of his photography education. He recounted hours spent laboring in studios, experimenting and “painting with light,” until he could walk into any room and know what to do.
Some of his most widely seen works include promotional content for Musa’s Lemonade, Schnucks, and the National Pork Board. He’s also done work with meat and produce for Hy-Vee and its magazines. If you received a Hy-Vee Seasons Magazine from 2023 to 2024, you likely drooled over a couple of his shots.
“I would go to the grocery store and I’d be like ‘what photo did they pick?’” says Arroyo. “Pizza, burgers, ice cream, muffins. I shot it all.”
His commercial experience as the individual on set tasked with physically taking the photo allowed Arroyo to collaborate with and learn from other visual artists like food stylists and art directors, who he admits taught him a few tricks.
“Oils to make syrups look thicker,” says Arroyo. “They put stuff in milk to make it look rich. They’re using pins to make things stand up. Being a food stylist, you have to be a talented individual.”
After a few years working in the commercial photography industry, Arroyo decided to focus on some more creative pursuits. Enlisting the help of illustrator D “The Artista” Guzman and professional food stylist Sophie Babcock, Arroyo put together a book of photography documenting a cultural touchstone of his and his family’s life in Des Moines: local taco trucks.
”Taquerías en la University,” another collection in the Oskaloosa exhibit, details the everyday beauty of taco trucks on and around Des Moines’ University Avenue and the people who operate them. One of the most striking photos in the collection shows the royal blue, Honduran food truck La Ceibita 504 in a small parking lot braving the lonely winter, with everything around it blanketed in a light inch or two of snow.
Catching the travel bug
Both rural and urban perspectives permeate his collection “A Home I Never Knew” — the collection that greets you as you walk into the exhibit. The project chronicles an artist soaking up his own history. Its poignancy is in its perspective: essentially the view of a place from a grown-up on study abroad, where the homework is reconnecting with your father.
Across several trips to Oaxaca with his family between 2020 and 2024, Arroyo had built up a library of sentimentality. Photos in the collection are focused on family, and include his father Raul diving into a pool and hiking along the Canyon de Tamazulapam.
“As a Mexican-American, someone that’s mixed race,” explains Arroyo, “living in the U.S., you get really sanitized from your culture. My name is Anthony instead of Antonio. [My parents] really watered it down.”
This year, Arroyo spent a few months in Oaxaca, staying with his grandmother for a couple days in the country, and living in hostels when in the city for things like Spanish lessons and people watching.
“I’m by myself out here.” Says Arroyo, a capable Spanish-speaker who wants to improve, “I’m forced to speak Spanish.”
Last chance to see the exhibit
Also on display at the Oskaloosa Art Center are Arroyo’s collections “Instant History” and “Home is the East Side.” The former is a collection of Polaroids, and is a carousel of harrowing, sincere and landmark shots from the volatile political scene from 2020 to 2021. The latter explores the sights around Arroyo’s neighborhood on Des Moines’ East Side.
“I’m really happy I got to do this,” says Arroyo of his Oskaloosa exhibit. His first official foray into curation took place at The Slow Down Coffee Co. in Des Moines. In Oskaloosa, however, the art (not the coffee) was the star.
“For my first solo exhibition at an art center,” says Arroyo, “I’m really proud!”
After a few months spent gallivanting around Mexico, Arroyo recently settled in Chicago, where he continues to pursue artistic projects. He will return to Iowa for the Oskaloosa Art Center’s closing reception Nov. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The art center is free and open to the public on weekends; visit FACE of Mahaska County’s website for more information or to schedule an appointment.
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