In 1972, the property was destroyed in the earthquake and in 1973, Peñalba left. The painter, Sergio Dávila took over the direction of the school in 1974. Without a permanent home, the school moved often until 1975, when Dávila secured a donated property in the Dambach Neighborhood of Managua from owners who had emigrated from the country. The location was shared with the National Museum of Cultural Heritage and offered only courses in visual arts and music. In 1979, Dávila was replaced when a new policy on culture was instituted by the government. For the first time, the state established material and courses for teaching visual arts and hired Cuban professors to formalize a program to teach ceramics, engraving, painting and sculpture. A workshop on murals developed in 1983. They established an autonomous facility in the Ministry of Culture, but in 1988, it closed and students rejoined the National School of Fine Arts.