Although commercial screen printing underwent a period of development in the 1920s, it was not until the 30s that artists and printmakers began to see its potential for personal expression.

During the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the WPA program. A unique agency established to alleviate the widespread unemployment created by the Great Depression. Artists were given weekly stipends to create posters, prints, paintings, murals , and other artworks. It was the first time in American history that artists received federal subsidies so that they could continue to make art. This group of artists expanded the creative aspects of the screen print through their experiments with stencils, tusche, textural possibilities, and color overprinting (which was unknown to commercial printers). By the end of the 1930s many artists began to try their hand with the new medium. However, because exhibition opportunities were limited, due to the screen prints earlier commercial association, it was felt that a new name for the prints might link it to the fine arts and lead to greater success. The term “serigraph” was born , from the Latin word seri (meaning “silk”) and the Greek word graphos (meaning “to draw or write”). More and more artists, including Guy Maccoy, Robert Gwathmcy, Harry Sternberg, Harry Gotlieb, and Elizabeth Olds, found the process creatively challenging. Museum curators and critics began to express an interest in the new medium. By 1940 the National Serigraph Society was founded. Its active program of traveling exhibits, lectures, and portfolios of prints helped to sustain and broaden interest in the serigraph.aa