Arrive Thursday, February 27 and depart Thursday, March 6, 2025, 7 nights, 8 days
Come to Mexico City to explore the lives of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera through their art, and meet contemporary Mexican fashion designers who are making an impact on international style. This is an in-depth art history and textile education at its best! We offer you a narrated, leisurely cultural immersion that you can miss if you visit on your own. Our guides are textile expert Eric Chavez Santiago and bi-lingual Mexican art historian Valeria E. Small group size guarantees a quality experience.
You will learn about Diego Rivera‘s stunning Mexico City murals, visit Casa Azul where Diego and Frida Kahlo lived, and see the largest private collection of their work at the Dolores Olmedo Museum. Through their eyes, you will better understand Mexico’s political, cultural and social history, and the couple’s personal lives together. Theirs is a story of Mexico’s development as a post-revolutionary modern nation seeking to create its own distinctive identity based on Mestizo culture.
- You will meet their contemporaries, muralists Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Sequieros, as you compare and contrast their collective work.
- We introduce you to student muralists of the time: Pablo O’Higgins, Marion Greenwood, Isamu Noguchi and others.
To register, send us an email expressing your interest, along with the completed registration form. A $500 deposit per person will secure your space.
Tour cost is $2,935 per person for a shared room, and $3,635 for a single room.
Our expert guide is a noted art historian who holds a master’s degree in art history and studied for the PhD at UNAM. She shares her passion for the Mexican Muralists, narrates the expedition, and leads us through these historic spaces to give you the most meaningful experience:
- Palacio Nacional
- Palacio Bellas Artes
- Museo de Mural de Diego Rivera
- Secretaria de Educacion Publica (SEP)
- San Ildefonso National Preparatory School
- Abelardo Rodriguez market
- Casa Azul — the home of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo
- Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiño
About Frida and Diego: She called him toad. He was 20 years older. They were passionate about life, politics, each other. They shaped the world of modern art and she became an icon in her own right, creating an independent identity that serves as a role model for women today. They were twice married and unfaithful, the subjects of books and film, and art retrospectives around the world.
Rivera’s mural at the Palacio Nacional (National Palace) covers detailed Mexican history, from pre-Hispanic America to the Spanish Conquest through industrialization, including the French and U.S. invasions, from 1521 to 1930. Her paintings express her physical and emotional pain and suffering, as well as her politics. It is said her style is Magical Realism. Some art critics have called her a Surrealist. We will talk about why.
In addition, we are true to our roots as textile experts, introducing you to contemporary Mexican designers and collaborators who are making a statement about creative fashion in this exciting, vibrant and innovative city. We will also dine at some of the city’s most notable restaurants that feature traditional and trailblazing cuisine.
Trip Includes:
- 7 nights lodging at a respected Centro Historico hotel
- 6 breakfast and lunches
- gala welcome lunch at renown downtown restaurant
- Grand finale dinner
- entry fees to all museums
- guided discussions by an expert, bilingual art historian educated at UNAM and Southern Methodist University
- visits to studios + workshops of contemporary fashion designers and collaborators
- exploration of textile and folk art galleries
- transportation to Casa Azul and Dolores Olmedo Museum
- complete travel packet and readings sent in advance via email
Preliminary Itinerary:
Thursday, February 27: Arrive and check-in to our downtown historic center hotel. Gather for a no-host dinner at 7 p.m. Please be sure your flight arrives before 3:00 p.m. to get to the hotel on time for check-in.
Friday, February 28: After breakfast, we are guided by our art historian for a visit to Templo Mayor, to understand the pre-Hispanic history of this region. Then we visit the Rivera murals at SEP (Secretariat de Educacion Publica), at Colegio San Ildefonso, and murals at the Abelardo Rodriguez Market, where social revolutionary followers of Rivera expressed their individual styles. We have a welcome lunch at an outstanding downtown restaurant. The rest of the late afternoon and evening is on your own. Meals included: breakfast and lunch. Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
Saturday, March 1: After breakfast, we meet our art historian to visit the Rivera murals at the Palacio Nacional, then we make our way to see the murals at Palacio Bellas Artes, followed by a visit to the Rivera Museum to see the famous mural he painted encapsulating the history of Mexico, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park. We will have lunch nearby, with an optional visit to the nearby folk-art museum. Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
Sunday, March 2: After breakfast, we take a van ride to Casa Azul, the home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The Blue House belonged to Frida’s father, a photographer, and when the couple moved in, they expanded it. It is also where Trotsky stayed briefly after his exile from Russia. It is a treasure trove of her paintings, some of his, and their extensive folk-art collection. After lunch, we visit the Museo de Culturas Populares, a small gem in Coyoacan with an exhibition of traditional and contemporary hand made arts of Mexico. Then we meander the galleries and plaza in the quaint neighborhood of Coyoacan. We may even visit the Trotsky house museum! Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
Monday, March 3: This starts our textile excursion in Mexico City! After breakfast, we meet with a noted Mexican fashion designer, Guillermo Vargas, in his workshop to understand how he is influencing contemporary style based on traditional techniques. Vargas was motivated by his Japanese heritage, and then founded the brand 1/8 Takamura, so named because his paternal great-grandfather was Japanese. Then we have lunch in one of our favorite restaurants, Azul Historico. After lunch, we have a special visit and a presentation of high quality hand woven textiles from Oaxaca and throughout Mexico in one of our favorite galleries. Meals included: Breakfast and lunch.
Tuesday, March 4: After breakfast, we visit the Dolores Olmedo Museum in Chapultepec Park. (This visit is subject to change as the museum is relocating. We expect it to be open here by the time of our visit.) She was the Rivera benefactor and executor, and he left most of his collection of Frida’s paintings to her. It is the largest collection of her work in the world. From there, we will go to a nearby neighborhood to visit designer galleries and shops. Meals included: Breakfast and lunch. Meals included: breakfast and lunch.
Wednesday, March 5: After breakfast, this is a day to meander on your own. You might choose to visit the Museo de Arte Popular (MAP), the Franz Mayer Museum, shop the basement gourmet food court at mega-department store Palacio de Hierro, or see the Belle Epoque Tiffany stained glass in the lobby at Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico. We will meet in the early evening for our Grand Finale Dinner. Meals included: Breakfast and dinner.
Thursday, March 6: Departure day. We will help you arrange taxis to the airport. Meals included: None.
The tour does NOT include airfare, taxes, tips, travel insurance, liquor or alcoholic beverages, some meals, and local transportation as specified in the itinerary. We reserve the right to substitute instructors and alter the program as needed.
To Register, Policies, Procedures & Cancellations–Please Read
Reservations and Cancellations. A $500 non-refundable deposit (first payment) is required to guarantee your spot. The balance is due in two equal payments. The second payment of 50% of the balance is due on or before August 1, 2024. The third payment, the remaining 50% of the balance is due on or before December 1, 2024. We accept payment using Zelle transfer (no fees) or you can make your payments with a credit card with a 4% service fee. We will send you an invoice when you tell us you are ready to register. After December 1, 2024, there are no refunds. If you cancel on or before December 1, 2024, we will refund 50% of your deposit received to date less the $500 non-refundable reservation deposit. After that, there are no refunds.
How to Register: First, complete the Registration Form and send it to us. We will then send you a request to make your reservation deposit.
If we cancel for whatever reason, we will offer a 100% refund of all amounts received to date, less the non-refundable deposit.
All documentation for plane reservations, required travel insurance, and personal health issues must be received 45 days before the program start or we reserve the right to cancel your registration without reimbursement.
NOTE: All travelers must provide proof of international travel insurance that includes $50,000+ of medical evacuation coverage, plus current COVID-19 vaccinations to travel with us. CDC-approved face masks are highly recommended during the tour, especially in crowded areas.
To Register, Policies, Procedures & Cancellations–Please Read
Terrain, Walking and Group Courtesy: Mexico City is at 7,000 feet altitude. Sidewalks can be narrow and crowded. We will do some walking. Please bring a walking stick and wear comfortable hiking/walking shoes.
NOTE: If you have mobility issues or health/breathing impediments, please consider that this may not be the program for you.
Traveling with a small group has its advantages, and also means that independent travelers will need to make accommodations to group needs and schedule. We include plenty of free time to go off on your own if you wish.
Details, Another View of Frida Kahlo at Casa Azul
In the last three years, I’ve probably visited Casa Azul, where Frida Kahlo was born and lived with Diego Rivera, over ten times. I come because I organize the art history study tour, Looking for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
Frida Kahlo Calderon, daughter of Jewish Hungarian father and Oaxaquena mother
Can you get to Mexico City next weekend?
On this latest visit last Friday with a group from Australia and New Zealand, I served as a consultant for their leader who wanted a one-day quick immersion into Frida’s life for her group.
Frida’s father and mother, her portrait of them
I wondered: How do I continue to take photos of the same iconographic details of Frida and Diego’s life? The paint brushes. The photographs. The furniture. The folk art collection.
Detail of studio paint brushes, her strokes became weaker at the end
The pre-Hispanic ceramics and lava rock sculpture. The clothing. The frog urn that contains her ashes. The paintings she created out of pain. Reverence. Disappointment. Courage. Commitment to love and family. Passion.
Watermelons. Celebration of Life. Finished just before death.
Go to the details, I told myself. Captures the parts, not the whole. Focus on the brush strokes. The lace. The color. The shadows and reflections. The images of the men and women she loved.
Colored oil crayons, still neatly boxed, waiting. Ready.
Go to the details. Find the ribbons. Find the ribs of the plant leaves. The shape of flowers. The accoutrements of the corsets and built-up shoes to hide her deformities. The textures and reflections.
Palm ribs in the expansive garden, Casa Azul
She put such a strong, uplifting face to the world despite her injuries — physical and emotional.
She called Diego “Toad” and “Panza” — ashes contained within the frog jug.
This trip to Casa Azul was different for me and I used the experience to examine the infinite, small parts of life that we often scan over to take in the big picture.
Visceral, the insides of a gourd, like a fertile womb ready to give seed. But she couldn’t.
If you want to join me in Mexico City, Thursday, July 29, for a July 30 morning start to a three-day immersion into the murals, paintings and lives of Friday and Diego, there is a space for you. It’s so easy to fly in and out!
Lover, sculptor Isamu Noguchi, in Mexico
Why is Frida Kahlo an icon? Perhaps you would like to help me answer this question.
Supported by a frame, a corset, exposed, bare and barren.
What does she represent for women who aspire to be independent, strong, feminine and vulnerable?
Painting from a wheel chair, Casa Azul
She hid her misshapen body beneath glorious hand-woven and embroidered dresses, put her best foot and face forward. Persevered and thrived.
Loved by photographer Nicolas Murry. She was devoted to Diego.
Today, she is more famous, more revered than Diego Rivera because she exposed herself and revealed the internal, damaged self.
Frida refused to let her polio define her, though she wore a brace, sturdy shoes.
Andre Breton called her Mexico’s surrealist painter. She is more than that. Surrealism conjures up Salvador Dali and the distortions he saw in life. Frida reflected on her own distortions and created beauty from them.
Saludos, Norma
On the bus, a fateful day of destruction and a lifetime of reconstruction
Would Frida have become the painter she did without having suffered the trolley car accident that sent a metal spear through her uterus?
Frida Kahlo, 1907-1954
Self-portrait, through Frida Kahlo’s looking glass
Sometimes courage requires that we each put one foot in front of the other to move forward, despite set-backs. We love Frida Kahlo because through her story she teaches us that life requires risk, innovation, and that being afraid is part of our existence.
Painted gourd adorns kitchen table in Casa Azul
When Frida died, Diego Rivera wanted to establish a museum to honor her. She was not yet recognized. He convinced his friend, Dolores Olmedo, to invest in purchasing Frida’s paintings and Casa Azul.
Closet where Frida’s belongings were sealed for 50 years
But, he made her promise not to open the green closet door, where clothing, diaries and photos remained secreted for fifty years.
In 2006, the closet was opened and art history was rewritten.
The garden at Casa Azul
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Mexico City, Workshops and Retreats
Tagged art history, Diego Rivera, feminism, Frida Kahlo, icons of womanhood, life, Mexican painters, Mexico City, study tour, Women