New addendum to the Lorraine Garcia-Nakata papers

A new addition to the Lorraine Garcia-Nakata papers has been processed and is open for research. The addendum consists of personal and professional correspondence, exhibition catalogs and flyers, postcards, newspaper clippings, and other materials. The materials document Lorraine Garcia-Nakata's involvement with the Mexican Museum, the California Arts Council, the National Museum of the American Latino, San Francisco Arts Commission, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Childrens Book Press, the Democratic Party, art exhibitions, and other initiatives. The addendum also contains correspondence from Garcia-Nakata's friends, family, and colleagues. The catalog record can be accessed from Searchworks here.

 Lorraine García-Nakata is a California-based visual artist who has exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. She is deeply involved with art administration through educational institutions, museums, and galleries. She is also a writer and musician. 

Lorraine García-Nakata was born in 1950 in Yuba City, California, and is a third-generation descendant of Mexican immigrants. She attended Yuba College and graduated from California State University Sacramento in 1974 with a Major in Art. In 1974 she joined the Sacramento based artist collective, the Royal Chicano Air Force and worked on the Southside Park Mural in Sacramento. From 1976-1979 she lived in Washington, first attending the University of Washington in Seattle and later teaching drawing and ceramics at Moses Lake College. In 1979 she moved back to California and was an Artist-in-Residence with the California Arts Council.

Caption: Flyer for the What we are now exhibition with (from left to right) Celia Rodriguez, Kathryn E. Garcia, Eva C. Garcia, Lorraine Garcia-Nakata, Patricia Carrillo. 

In the 1980s Lorraine García-Nakata's started working with the Mexican Museum and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts doing art administration. She served on the San Francisco Arts Commission, as a Commissioner for the National Museum of the American Latino and worked with the Children's Book Press. García-Nakata was a founding member and advisor to the San Francisco Latino Historical Society.

Lorraine Garcia-Nakata continues to be involved with art exhibitions and administration, social justice initiatives and community engagement.  

Caption: letter from Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor praising Lorraine Garcia-Nakata's work with the Childrens Book Press, September 22, 2009.