About Me

I am Alex Santiago. I am a 3D Artist, Assistant Professor, and Entrepreneur.

After graduating college with a degree in Creative Media, I wanted to be a 3D modeler but initially had a hard time getting my foot in the door. I found some success as a freelance artist, but I found my calling as an educator, teaching 3D animation and helping students tell their own stories. I have now started teaching and coaching those same artists how to build successful creative businesses. 

Traditional business people undervalue arts and artists. They think what we do can be replacd by AI.

They are wrong. 

As most artists know, AI was trained from our art. It can’t do it better than we can, because it hasn’t developed the creative eye we have. AI hasn’t learned how to make creative decisions the way we have. That is something traditional business owners will find out, when the AI bubble bursts. So let’s build something that will last, so we will be ready when it does. 

My Values

I believe in people’s potential. I value artists and see the importance they add to the world.

I want to break the stereotype of a starving artist. I want to help artists not just live, but thrive!

I often think of a quote from the movie Dead Poets Society. In the movie, a teacher named John Keating, portrayed by Robin Williams, teaches poetry, but I believe his lessons apply to all types of art. My modified version of the quote is:

“We [create art] because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But [art,] poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”

― Dead Poet Society