[10] Garza helped her grandmother create embroidery patterns using paper cutouts as a young child.

[11] The influence of her mother's and grandmother's art-making was very strong and by age thirteen Garza had decided she would be an artist.

[14] Garza later wrote that the Chicano Movement nourished her goal of being an artist and gave her back her voice.

"[18] Garza also feels that by creating positive images of Mexican-American families, her work can help combat racism.

[19] Her choice to use personal and family images to combat racism is a departure from more political works by many Chicano artists.

[20] Art Hazelwood, et al, write in Mission Gráfica, "Garza's work follows and updates a traditional style both subject matter and in techniques.

The imagery often refers to aspects of Tejana (Texan Mexican American) culture, including daily family life.

"[23] Garza has made Day of the Dead ofrendas, or ritual altars, to honor not just family members, but also people from history.

[24] In Chan Kaajal Park, a park opened in 2017 in San Francisco's Mission District, features renderings of a California condor and a great blue heron by Garza, commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission.

[26] In 2013, Garza's Cama para Suenos (1985) and Loteria-Tabla Llena (1972) were included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art[27] Garza was also featured in the University of Texas at Austin's 7th Annual ¡A Viva Voz!