Carmen Lomas Garza
(1948 - )

Carmen Lomas Garza was a member of the national Hispanic-American task force created by the National Endowment for the Arts. She was also a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and California Arts Council. She currently lives and works in San Francisco. However, most of her paintings celebrate childhood memories of growing up in Kingsville, Texas. The selection for the Census 2000 poster, Camas para Sueños or "Beds for Dreams," was inspired by youthful conversations with her sister and their desire to become artists. Garza was a consultant for the 1997 movie Selena and used the theme of this painting for one of its scenes. This gouche on paper was purchased through the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program for the National Museum of American Art.

The 1990 census indicated five states, California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois, were home to nearly two-thirds of Hispanic Americans. Although these states will continue to represent the greatest numbers of Hispanic Americans, Census 2000 should show this population growing from 22 million in 1990 to about 31 million in 2000.