Laredo Center for the Arts vandalized: the violent disarray of so tranquil a place for the arts bespoke a disconcerting rage

The staff member who opened the doors to the Laredo Center for the Arts on April 2 encountered a vast disarray of trash; upended furniture; its two kitchens filled with the sight and stench of unrefrigerated food hurled about the counters, floors, walls, and cabinets; a dusting of coffee creamer on kitchen surfaces; spurts and splatters of Sriracha sauce on kitchen walls, cabinets, and floors; an empty gin bottle; art supplies thrown off their shelves; its donation box pilfered; easels tossed about; and two damaged pieces of art in the Center’s permanent collection, one of them a hand-built, hand-painted wooden chair with wooden feet carved to look like frog feet — the value of that acquisition donated by artist Angelica Raquel, $2,500.

There’s more: the pages of the log book chronicling art acquisitions torn from its binder; the Center’s big screen TV punctured at its center with a sharp object; the Center’s archival records, business records, legal documents and board meeting minutes tossed to the floor; vandalized bathroom fixtures.

The violent disarray of so tranquil a place as the Laredo Center for the Arts bespoke a disconcerting rage.

A female named Yvette Ibarra wearing a red “The Border Is A Weapon” T-shirt has reportedly been apprehended and arrested. The Center’s gift shop stocks that particular shirt bearing the logo of a 2022 art exhibit.

On April 2, a piece of paper with Sriracha smears and perhaps Sriracha fingerprints was discovered by a Center staff member on the Flores end of the Center for the Arts. The paper, which bore the name of Yvette Ibarra, was tendered to LPD investigators The same name appeared in the Center’s guest book on March 27.

Ibarra has been arrested 14 times from January 16, 2022 to February 24, 2026. Eight of the arrests were for criminal trespass, one for aggravated assault, two for theft of property, one for burglary of a vehicle, one for robbery, and one for possession of a controlled substance on February 24, 2026. On December 1, 2025, a mental competency evaluation was received for filing. She was found competent.

“I am deeply saddened by the recent breakin at the Center for the Arts,” said District 8 City Council member Alyssa Cigarroa.

“The Laredo Police Department has a person of interest in custody, and I support prosecution to the full extent of the law if found guilty. The individual involved is a Laredo resident housed through the Laredo Housing Authority,” she continued.

“Acts of vandalism and criminal intrusion have no place in Laredo. Our downtown plazas and cultural spaces belong to this community, and we cannot stand by while they are threatened. I am committed to working with LPD to ensure that those who violate that trust are held fully accountable under the law,” she concluded.