Inverna Lockpez was born in Havana, Cuba where she studied painting and sculpture at the National Academy of San Alejandro, and print-making in Taller de Grabado. She built a studio in the Catskills because the area reminded her of the coffee plantations of home. She settled in New York where she won a major outdoor competition for a 25-foot sculpture under the auspices of The Municipal Art Society. She received grants from The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS), CINTAS Foundation, and a CETA award. She became the director of INTAR (International Arts Relations) Gallery where she curated more than 100 exhibitions and for more than seven years her gallery was elected by "Art in America" as one of the best 15 galleries in the country. In 1988 she became the president of the National Association of Artists’ Organizations (NAAO) in Washington, DC. By the nineties her paintings had already been part of more than 80 exhibits around the country and for her work she received two NYSCA Decentralization Grants administered by the Roxbury Arts Group. In 2001 she became the director of The Catskill Center’s Erpf Gallery.