to create a image for your background, I am assuming you mean once you have finished your model right ? Well, go to your Create Tab > Create Polygon Plane... Resize it to your needs... Select the Plane and open its Attributes. From there you want to look for the " FILE " Tab ( option ) on the right, around the Color/Transparency options, etc. Then once you've clicked on the FILE TAB... Select the IMAGE you want for the PLANE, etc.

I have Maya 4.0 & 4.5 Unlimited...so might be a little diff' for 5.0 ?

I also have Maya 2.0 & 2.5 Unlimited-
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