Shortly after artists José A. Torres Martinó, Lorenzo Homar, and Rafael Tufiño organized the Centro de Arte Puertorriqueño (CAP), Carlos Marichal, Carlos Raquel Rivera, and Rubén Rivera Aponte joined in the initiative. The Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP) in Mexico, whose aim was to turn art into a means of social education, served as the ideological model for the Centro de Arte. These artists believed that by working together and using the print as a primary means of expression, they could reach the people in a more objective fashion. The CAP functioned as both a studio and an art school. It was the place where artists in the 1950s first ventured into printmaking.
José A. Torres Martinó (Ponce, born 1916) is considered the ideological leader of the generation born in the 1950s in Puerto Rico. As such, he was among those who defended the creation of an autonomous artistic movement in Puerto Rico. He also played an active role as arts educator and promoter of the graphic arts. In 1969, he founded and taught at the Taller de Diseño Gráfico [Graphic Design Workshop] de la Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. Working with the artist Myrna Báez, he founded the Hermandad de Artistas Gráficos de Puerto Rico in 1981. The reason for organizing this group of artists was to protest against government intervention in cultural matters at the time.