• Depart Detroit-flight to Mexico City



• Late afternoon arrival, customs, money exchange, taxi to Centro



• Arrival at hotel, time to settle in
• walking tour to Zocalo
• Tour of Cathedral Metropolitana
• Welcome dinner
  
• Hotel / classes

Central court in our hotel

Our welcome breakfast comes with a view of the Zocalo, Cathedral and central Mexico City from our rooftop outdoor dining room.

• Welcome Breakfast (program group breakfast)
• Lecture: "The Mexica and the foundation of Tenochtitlán". Guided tour: "The Spanish Conquest and Colonial Architecture". Sites visited include:
  
• Tour of Templo Mayor and Museo Templo Mayor
  
• Palacio Nacional - Diego Rivera Murals


• Lunch


• Museo Nacional de Arte


• Classes/Lecture on the Mexican Muralists/Folkloric Tradition


• Late afternoon/early evening, as time permits:


• Palacio de Bellas Artes / Siquieros, Orozco, Rivera, Tamayo


• Optional visit/dinner in Plaza Garibaldi (Mariachis!)

"Los Concheros" making an offering in the Zocalo-the largest central square in North America, and the heart of Mexico City. Bordering the Zocalo are the ruins of the Templo Mayor-the major temple of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán. Also bordering the square is the Palacio Nacional, with the famous Diego Rivera murals. Behind the cathedral is the museum.

• Breakfast, meet for travel to Teotihuacán
  
• Teotihuacán-Lecture on Teotihuacán monuments/Tour of Calzada de los Muertos, Quetzalcoatl, Ciudadela, Pyramide del Sol, Museo


• Lunch/picnic at Museo Cafe


• Pyramide de la Luna, Palacio de los Jaguares


• Return to Mexico D.F.
• Classes in Hotel
  

Students of the Art in Mexico City program pose before the Temple of the Sun at Teotihuacán. Even in February, it can get to 70-80 degrees under the bright blue skies.

Teotihuacán is a UNESCO world heritage site. The Palace of the Quetzalpapalotl, the relief carvings are still visible on the support columns, and traces of color can be seen from the original paint.

Teotihuacán was once the largest city in the Americas. In the pre-Columbian period it boasted in excess of 100,000 residents. The view here is from the top of the so-called "Temple of the Moon" and looks down the "Calle de los Muertos" toward the "Temple of the Sun" and the mountains beyond.

We enjoy a cruise along canals built and dredged by the Aztecs.

Chillaxin' on the steps of the Dolores Olmeda Patino Museo

A market stall at Xochimilco

Photograph of Diego at work. We will see a number of Diego's easel paintings in the Patino Museum, which stands as one of the world's best private collections of works by both Frida And Diego. The museum also boasts a remarkable collection of Mexican folk art. The estate and museum were once the home of Pedro de Alvarado- the grandson and succesor of the last King of Xochimilco, Apochquiyauhtzin.

Xoloitzcuintle ("show-low-eats-queent-lay") dogs, an indigenous Western Hemisphere breed the predates the conquistadors, and may reach as far back as 1500 BCE. It is nearly hairless and stands quite still. We thought they were sculptures until they moved. Inside the museum are pottery examples of these indigenous dogs.

• To Chapultepec


• Museo Nacional de Antropologia


• Classes-Lecture on the indigenous peoples of Mexico, guided tour of Museo:" Origins, Pre-Classic Period, Teotihuacan, Toltec, Mexica, Oaxaca, Classic Maya"


• Lunch/ view Voladores of the Totonac people, and if time permits:


• Museo de Arte Moderno or


• Monument a los Ninos Heroes or


• Castillo de Chapultepec or


• Rufino Tamayo Museo
• Evening performance Ballet Folklorico at Palacio de Bellas Artes (depending on availability of tickets)

Voladores at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia

Folkloric Dancers

Aztec Sun Stone in the Museo Nacional de Antropologia

• Breakfast/ Travel to San Angel/Coyoacan/ Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo
  
• Lunch
• Museo Frida Kahlo / Casa Azul/ Classes-Discussion of Frida biography
• Museo Leon Trotsky (time permitting)
• Evening classes

Judas figures in Diego Rivera's studio

• Morning classes
  
• Optional Travel to Puebla/Cholula


• Evening Classes/ Discussion of the Spanish Conquest/ Mexican Catholicism/ Indigenous images and traditions adapted by Mexican Catholics
  

The very "Indiana-Jones"-esque passage under the pyramid of Cholula

• Breakfast / meet to visit Secretaria de Educacion Publica
(Diego Rivera and Siquieros Murals)

• Optional Shopping at handicrafts center
  
• Early evening/ Final quiz, collect notebooks
• Program Supper
• We'll pack up our belongings in preparation for our return flight to the U.S.A. tomorrow

The lovely courtyard of the Secretaria de Educacion Publica. Diego Rivera's first mural attempts are here-and we can observe his work as he develops skills in fresco painting and composition. We will also view the work of Siquieros-and his very different, but powerful and modern conceptions.

A detail of workers and revolutionaries with a portrait of Frida Kahlo handing out guns-note the red star on her shirt (of course to really appreciate, you need a close view in real life! No photograph can possibly do justice to these works!)

Map of Mexico City from 1628