Living Art History in Mexico

Christine Hubbard Start Date: Jan 24, 2020 - End Date: Jul 23, 2020
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Mexico City, Mexico
  • Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico

My Travel Story

by: Christine Hubbard Start Date: Jan 24, 2020 - End Date: Jul 23, 2020
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Study/Degree Abroad
My name is Christine and I am a senior at Eastern Kentucky University. I am majoring in art education with a concentration in art history. 

This December, I have the opportunity to spend two weeks in Mexico City and Merida Yucatan, Mexico. While there, I would be visiting Zocalo, the Sanctuary of Guadalupe, Rivera murals at National Palace, downtown Polanco, Teotihuacan archeogogical site, Coyoacan, Frida Kahlo house, Polyforum Siqueiros, Merida City Hall, Merida public market, Chichen Itza archeological site, Ik-Kil Cenote, Mayan villages, Uxmal archeological site, and Yaxcopoil henequen plantation. 

Each of these places are so rich in history and even more so in art. This would greatly impact my education as I would be seeing the artistic works in person that I have for so long studied. Anybody can read about art in a textbook, but acquiring a firsthand view of it would allow me to teach it through a whole new perspective. Many of the archaeological sites that I would be visiting have been the source of artifacts found in museums around the world. I would be able to fully immerse in the items and the culture they come from to better teach my students. 

Throughout my college career, I have also become fluent in Spanish. I did so because I know so many of my future students will be spanish-speaking or come from spanish-speaking families. It is extremely important to me to be able to communicate fully with all of my students and their families to ensure that my students are reaching their full potential. Visiting a country with heritage shared by many of my students would give me a whole new appreciation and understanding for the culture. It would give me a new way to relate to my students and their families. This would not only impact me as a career woman, but also a community member. 

Anybody who knows me as an artist knows that Frida Kahlo is my art idol. I have studied her and her works extensively, taken influence from her for my own works, and recreated some of her most famous pieces. Stepping into her home would be a once in a lifetime experience and inspire me on a completely different level. Getting to experience not only her personal home, but the country to which she enriched the culture would be a dream come true. A large reason I chose Mexico as my destination was to experience hispanic culture and the works of Frida Kahlo. 

This trip would be an amazing opportunity for me educationally and professionally and a great way to end my undergraduate career. It would be my first time abroad, though I know it would be far from my last! 

Thank you for all your support!
  • Mexico City, Mexico
  • Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico