Exploring the potential for collective agency in art museums: What we can learn from two historic programs

This paper examines how two historic art programs from the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) in the United States and El Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP) in Mexico, offer insights for contemporary art museums seeking to foster collective agency and community engagement. Through analysis of these Depression-era initiatives, the article explores how collective empowerment, shared decision-making, and collaborative cultural production served as foundational principles in democratizing artistic engagement. The WPA-FAP, despite its progressive goals, faced limitations due to governmental oversight and structural inequalities, while the TGP operated as an independent artist collective that sustained social initiatives through collaborative work. Both programs utilized printmaking as a democratic medium and established community-centered spaces that challenged traditional museum models. I argue that art museums can learn from these historical examples to reimagine their institutional practices, supporting community governance and collective action for social transformation.