Carmen Lomas Garza

Carmen Lomas Garza was born in Kingsville, TX. Her parents were activists with the American G.I. Forum. Her parents’ activism inspired her to join the Chicano movement in the 1960s and 1970s. She graduated from the Texas Arts & Industry University, Juarez-Lincoln/Antioch Graduate School, and she earned her M.A. in 1981 from San Francisco State University. She has received many awards and has displayed her artwork in galleries and museums all over the United States. (carmenlomasgarza.com)

Books by Carmen

In My Family/ En Mi Familia

In this book, Carmen pays tribute to her family and community she grew up with. This book takes you through different experiences that Carmen had with her family and her community growing up. 

Magic Windows/ Ventana Magicas

This book is about Carmen's family and the Aztec legends of her past. Carmen uses pipel picado (cut paper art) to show people through her family, ancestors, community, and the heritage that made her who she is today.









Family Pictures/Cuadros de mi Familia

This is the story of Garza's life growing up. It shows her as a young girl making tamales with her family, birthdays, finding a shark at the beach and many other experiences that she experienced growing up. These stories are told through vignettes of art. She adds a detailed description to each that focuses on a different aspect of Mexican American culture.








A Piece of My Heart/ Pedacito De Mi Corazon

This book is about Garza's life growing up and the Chicano movement she was apart of. This story with colorful pictures takes you through Garza's life growing up and goes into the activism she was later involved with.








All of the annotations were from www.amazon.com.

Facts about Carmen Lomas Garza:

• All of Carmen Lomas Garza's books are written in Spanish and English.
• Carmen Lomas Garza creates all of her own paintings. She uses about 13 to 15 in each book and each painting takes 3 to 9 months to paint.
• All of Carmen's books are about family and about her life growing up.
• Carmen Lomas Garza has displayed her paintings and artwork in galleries and museums all over the United States.

Quotes from Carmen Lomas Garza

"I try to depict images of my childhood; of my memory." -Carmen Lomas Garza
"The literacy happens with talking about your artwork." -Carmen Lomas Garza
"The magical thing that happens is that when people are looking at it, especially Latino families, they can immediately recognize what's going on, and they'll start telling me their stories. And they'll say 'This is my story. This is my family. It's been really gratifying to get that kind of feedback." - Carmen Lomas Garza

In the beginning of the semester, one of the books Professor Hayes passed around was Carmen Lomas Garza's In My Family/En Mi Familia. I remember that I found the pictures bright and colorful, and the story was really fun to read and learn about. The thing about her books that stood out to me the most was that the book was written in both Spanish and English so kids that spoke English or were still learning it could read the Spanish too. Also, kids who speak English could try to read the Spanish part and learn a little of that language as well.

Bibliography:
pictures and annotations: www.amazon.com
Information about Carmen Lomas Garza: carmenlomasgarza.com