When Diego Rivera began construction of the Anahuacalli, he originally planned for the Museum to form part of a broader project, a City for the Arts. Undertaken by the muralist from 1945 to 1950, this City contemplated the edification of other museums, as well as squares and spaces for workshops and schools that would benefit artisans and artists alike. The architecture and design of the site were to be similar to those of the Anahuacalli itself: modern and realist – that is to say, inspired by the original buildings of the Americas. Moreover, the construction of the complex was to remain sensitive to its natural surroundings, taking advantage of a landscape characterized by the singular rock formations left behind by the eruption of the Xitle Volcano south of Mexico City. Unfortunately, Rivera passed away before the museum was concluded and the work was completed by his daughter, the architect Ruth Rivera, and Juan O’Gorman.

In the The Xitle Volcano School for Sciences and Artisanry, Marco Rountree falls back on the collage approach evident in a great deal of his work, focusing especially on a concept of vital importance in the development of modern art and architecture in Mexico: the integration of the visual arts. His interventions seek to open up a dialogue and wield a direct influence over the architecture, curatorship and collection of the Museum. Some of these interventions refer to certain aspects of the original project that the Anahuacalli formed part of, such as the schools and workshops that never came to pass, or the presence of artisanry. Others use the volcanic rock to emphasize the relationship Rivera sought to sustain between landscape and architecture. Dilemmas related to the Museum collection and displays are also approached by Rountree. For example, the artist updates some of the curatorial resources from the 1960s, the decade when the Museum was inaugurated, while at the same time underlining the connection between the aesthetics of pre-Colombian art (mainly Western Mexico) and those of folk art or caricature – relationships that have been explored by figures such as Salvador Toscano, Paul Westheim, or Adolfo Best Maugard. In this manner, the series of interventions and sculptures that comprise The Xitle Volcano School of Sciences and Artisanry, rather than exhaustively delving into a single aspect related to the Anahuacalli and its history, offer myriad insights into this singular project of Rivera’s, both in terms of what exists and what was never successfully accomplished.