LASALLE College of the Arts was founded in 1984 by Joseph McNally.[1] It was formerly known as the St Patrick’s Arts Centre, located within the premises of St Patrick’s School along East Coast Road.[2] McNally was keen to develop the centre into an integrated art college with a wide range of programmes in visual and performing arts.[3] In 1985, it expanded to add a second campus at Telok Kurau with the arts centre renamed to LaSalle College of the Arts.[4] In 1992, the institution moved to its Mountbatten campus at the former Tun Sri Lanang Secondary School at Goodman Road.[5]
In 1993, the institution was renamed LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts after receiving a $15 million donation from Singapore Airlines to build two new buildings at its Mountbatten campus with the aim of bringing together the college’s activities on a single campus.[6] The Khoo, Lee, Shaw and Hong Leong Foundations, the Airbus Industries as well as other companies and individuals also provided their financial support.[7] With government funding, LASALLE only had to pay nominal rent for its Telok Kurau and Mountbatten campuses, which were on state land. It was then one of two private institutions in Singapore to offer diploma and degree programmes in the arts.[8] In 2003, the college undertook the development of a new city campus in line with the government’s plan to relocate the school from its Mountbatten premises.[9]
LASALLE was awarded its Accredited Institution status in 2004 by the Open University Validation Services, which meant that its degree programmes would be equivalent to arts courses in Britain that yield the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees.[10] In 2007, the institution was re-branded as LASALLE College of the Arts.[11] By 2009, it had attracted both an international faculty and student population. On 27 May 2009, the new McNally campus of LASALLE College of the Arts in the city was officially opened by then Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence, Ng Eng Hen.[12] The campus cost $138.5 million, of which about 75 percent ($104 million) was funded by the government .[13] The student population had grown from 27 students in 1984,[14] to over 2,000 in 2009.[15]
LASALLE is currently located at 1 McNally Street. The street was named in memory of Joseph McNally who died in 2002.[16] LASALLE now also has a studio space at Winstedt Road designed as a comprehensive creative centre for students’ studio work and research with facilities such as technical workshops, computer labs and photography labs.[17]
References
1. Lui, J. (2009, October 17). Footprints in the arts scene. The Straits Times, p. 105. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; LASALLE College of the Arts. (n.d.).About LASALLE. Retrieved January 19, 2016 from LASALLE College of the Arts website: http://www.lasalle.edu.sg/about/about-lasalle/
2. Tan, T. (2009, May 21). Hip at 25. The Straits Times, p. 53. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts. (2004). The Lasalle school: 20 years of fine arts from Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts (p. 10). Singapore: Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts. Call no.: RSING 709.5957 LAS
4. LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts. (2006). Year in review, Lasalle (p. 78). Singapore: LASALLE College of the Arts. Call no.: RSING 700.7105957 LCAYRL; Today, 7 Jun 2007, p. 54.
5. LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, 2006, p. 78.; Rasul, J.J. (2007, June 7). LaSalle’s new home. Today, p. 54. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
6. LASALLE College of the Arts. (2010). LASALLE 2009 Review (p. 90). Retrieved December 23, 2015, from LASALLE website: http://www.lasalle.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/about_corporate-info_2009-lasalle-year-in-review.pdf
7. Ministry of Information and the Arts. (1995, August 18). Speech by DPM Lee Hsien Loong at the 10th anniversary celebration of Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts and the opening of its two new buildings at the Mountbatten campus on Friday, 18 August 1995 at 5.00pm (p. 2). Retrieved December 23, 2015, from National Archives of Singapore website: http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline
8. Ministry of Information and the Arts, 18 Aug 1995, p. 2.
9. LASALLE College of the Arts, 2010, p. 90.
10. Hong, X. (2005, August 27). Minister paints pretty picture for arts scene. The Straits Times, p. 15. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, 2006, p. 91.
12. Ministry of Education. (2009, May 27). Speech by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence, at the official opening ceremony of the LASALLE campus, 27 May 2009, 7.30pm at LASALLE College of the Arts (pp. 1, 5). Retrieved December 23, 2015, from National Archives of Singapore website: http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline
13. Ministry of Education, 27 May 2009, p. 1.
14. The Straits Times, 27 Aug 2005, p. H15.
15. LASALLE College of the Arts, 2010, p. 9.
16. Ho, A. L. (2007, December 1). Sculpture and road in memory of ‘Brother Joe’. The Straits Times, p. 64. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
17. LASALLE College of the Arts. (n.d.).Campus. Retrieved January 19, 2016 from LASALLE College of the Arts website: http://www.lasalle.edu.sg/about/campus/winstedt-campus/
The information in this article is valid as at December 2015 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.