Her father, Morris Schinasi, was a Sephardic Jew born in Manisa, Turkey whose wealth stemmed from the international fine tobacco business.
It was in this job that she found herself working alongside Salvador Dalí, who had been commissioned to design two Bonwit Teller windows.
George Grosz, a German artist that Altina had long admired, settled in New York after fleeing Hitler's regime in 1932.
Once she had set up production and negotiated deals with department stores, Schinasi opened an office where she oversaw marketing and distribution, later expanding her operation to the West Coast upon relocating to California.
In 1939, Schinasi won the Lord & Taylor Annual American Design Award [9] for her avant-garde transformation of the eyeglass frame into a proper fashion accessory.
In the 1940s, with hopes of spending more time on her art, Schinasi moved west to Los Angeles first expanding and finally selling her eyeglass business.
Having begun studies with Howard Warshaw at the Jepson School of Art in Los Angeles, Schinasi said, "I took a room in the house as my studio and put a sign on the door: 'Do not come in unless there's a catastrophe.'
In Los Angeles, Schinasi spent many years as a volunteer art therapist and muralist at the experimental mental health centre, Synanon.
[13] Following the success of George Grosz' Interregnum, Schinasi found herself drawn to Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington, to which she acquired film rights.
[14] While looking at Henri Cartier-Bresson's photograph of unoccupied chairs, Schinasi was inspired to combine the function of the seat with the form of the sitter.
In 1978, she was interviewed by Pam Peabody at WPFW-Washington, D.C. about her 1978 exhibit at the Touchstone Gallery, as well as her life, work, and experience at Synanon.
[16] While at work on the chairacters, Schinasi's studio assistant left and she hired Celestino Miranda, who had recently arrived in United States, after seeking asylum from Cuba.
Schinasi continued to paint and sculpt, establishing herself in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she lived with her fourth husband, painter Celestino Miranda, in her final years.
Her son Terry Sanders helped with it and also shared a note on behalf of his family: "Happy Birthday, Tina!