Welcome to Daca Daguao Art Academy
Warning!
The academy is not open.
This June 1st 2026, our first course will be available to launch the academy. Fundamentals of Art is a course designed for all ages, intended to benefit both adults and students in public and private school systems. This initial course utilizes the educational standards of the National Art Education Association of the United States.
Please check back soon for updates and to stay informed about upcoming events.
Some of the links are not yet functional, and the information is constantly being updated. Memberships will not be available for purchase until the academy opens to the public. Thank you for your understanding.
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Courses
A list of available courses. We will always be working on new courses. Stay tuned.
Instructor and Director
My name is Gerardo Vargas and this is my experience in the field of commercial and plastic art.
Classes
I design classes in 7 ways. 1. Individual asynchronous without assistance. 2. Individual asynchronous with instructor assistance. 3. Group asynchronous with other students' assistance. 5. Group asynchronous with instructor and other students' assistance. 6. Group synchronous with schedule and instructor and other students' attendance. 7. Face to face with student and instructor individually.
Events
We will eventually have in-person exhibitions, but we are starting with digital versions. Here we will announce all kinds of events including competitions inside and outside the academy.
Programs
I will start the academy with intermediate and advanced art courses. Then I will introduce basic and beginner courses - foundation courses in schools, colleges and universities..
Teaching
Education and training at the Academy is based on practice and research. Theory is included while projects are created by the student under the guidance of the instructors. Thus the student makes a more useful connection between theoretical knowledge and practice.
History of Daca Daguao
Daca Daguao Digital Design, LLC is a design studio specializing in 3D animation and commercial arts. I am building this academy to train the next generation of artists, the future colleagues and current "partners in crime" of the arts.
I also want to offer the homeschool industry an alternative education in visual arts. Art is as varied as the artists who roam the arts communities. Students vary just the same and there will be something here for all types. Come and take a look.
school hours for one-on-one courses and scheduled group courses
M-F: 9am - 4:30pm Central Time
mailing address
PO Box 25
Cleveland, TX 77327
profesor.daguao@dacadaguao4d.academy
Telegram
Signal
Upcoming Events
Academy Opening
I am planning to open the academy to the public in the fall of 2024.
The tools we will use
What do you need to take our programs?
These courses can be taken on an iPad, Android tablet, and Windows Surface. iPads cannot run Kirta and other open source software, but there are proprietary alternatives in the Apple store. Android tablets and Surfaces can run open source applications. An alternative is to have an iPad and a MacBook and use the iPad as a Cintiq where you use the iPad to draw on a screen created by the Mac running the open source programs that live on the Mac. The same can be done with a Microsoft Surface and a Windows one.
Remote and Virtual Learning - Questions and Answers
Why did I start this academy?
For 9 years I worked as a visual arts teacher in various public schools and a university. I realized that the country's educational systems see visual arts as a good classroom to send all the students who don't want to be in school. This always bothered me because those students were already tired of trying to improve and they took away all the energy I had for the other students who did want to study and learn. Which took away from them opportunities to improve. That's why I left public and private teaching behind and now I'm dedicating my energies to students who want to learn and develop their critical thinking.
Who benefits most from this system?
Students who need a safe place to express themselves or who need privacy that traditional schools do not provide and benefit from more direct interaction with the instructor.
It also helps parents of young people who are homeschooled rather than participating in traditional schools because I will follow the goal formats used by the National Art Teachers Association in the United States. Eventually, I will include goals from other countries.
Will there be traditional courses with materials such as paper, pencil and brushes, among others?
That's correct. I'm already planning a set of foundational courses for traditional materials. I'll start with drawing and move on to all mediums at the beginner level. I'll provide the methods for transitioning to digital once students are reaching the intermediate level.
Will you be taught how to use the tablets individually?
Although it is necessary to learn the tools well to master them, we will not spend much time on the details of each digital tool, as they change quickly. We will only talk about the basics of each and then we will delve into the digital programs that can be used on each of the different digital devices such as iPad, Android, Windows and Mac.
If you have other questions:
Please use the question form and I will reply as soon as possible. Thank you for visiting the academy. I hope you find something you want to learn or master in the art world.
Blog Posts
From the street to the Philippines: 3 years later my online art academy is reborn
10 May, 2026
Today is May 10, 2026. I am writing this on vacation from the Philippines, while finalizing the details of my online art academy. I sit at a small table in front of the sea, while my partner prepares coffee. It seems like a dream. And it is. But getting here took me eight years of […]
Rescuing an Academy of Art, and making it 1st on the list.
28 May, 2023
Today is May 28, 2023. I am rescuing an art academy. My own. Just two months ago, in March, I signed the divorce papers. A marriage that started out hopeful and ended up falling apart as I tried to hold it together with one hand and my career with the other. In April I was […]