The ¡°light touch¡± creation of Singapore¡¯s first university of the arts signifies a ¡°tipping point¡± for the island¡¯s cultural self-recognition, according to the head of one of its constituent colleges.

Steve Dixon said that the explosion of Singapore¡¯s art scene over the past two decades had been overshadowed in a city known more as a finance centre and international transport hub. ¡°Amazing¡± concert halls, galleries and theatres and a plethora of cultural, music, dance and film festivals struggled for global visibility in ¡°one of the great success stories of the world¡±.

¡°In the past, art wasn¡¯t really considered that important,¡± said Professor Dixon, president of Lasalle College of the Arts. ¡°Parents were slightly reluctant that their kids would study arts. But the public importance of arts and culture has risen. Part of that was economic. Somewhere with culture, a good place to work and play, will attract inward investment from all around the world.¡±

The emergence of the arts was no accident in a city that ¡°doesn¡¯t do anything lightly¡±, Professor Dixon said. Planning and investment were outlined in three iterations of the ¡°Renaissance City Report¡± from 2000, the ¡°Arts and Culture Strategic Review¡± in 2012 and a 2018 arts plan.

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Early this year, then education minister Lawrence Wong announced that an ¡°alliance¡± of two private tertiary arts institutions ¨C Lasalle and nearby Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) ¨C would be conferred university status and degree-awarding powers.

The university will remain private and attract government funding. Mr Wong said that while the two foundation institutions would retain their ¡°distinctive identities¡±, the union would generate opportunities to ¡°leverage their respective strengths and traditions¡±.

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Professor Dixon said that the unification would generate ¡°more critical mass and clout¡± to attract international students and staff. It will increase the two institutions¡¯ ¡°profile¡± with international partners such as Goldsmiths, University of London, which has validated Lasalle¡¯s degrees since 2012.

He said that foreign institutions wanting to undertake cultural research or teaching partnerships in Singapore had tended to choose between Lasalle and Nafa. ¡°Now you¡¯ll go to the university and choose which programme you want.¡±

The ¡°light touch¡± amalgamation will share characteristics with the University of the Arts London and AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp, although neither model is identical. Singapore¡¯s constituent colleges will remain separate legal entities with their own directors and academic governance, running separate examinations ratified by a centralised board.

¡°There will be some centralisation of corporate and student services and sharing of spaces,¡± Professor Dixon said. ¡°But we will continue to develop and write our own programmes, as we have done for decades.¡±

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Details are being thrashed out by a committee of academics, arts and business luminaries and representatives of Nafa, Lasalle and the Ministry of Education. The new institution, which will launch in 2023-24, will occupy the two colleges¡¯ current campuses and a 12-storey building under construction at Lasalle.

A senior academic, rather than one of the two current presidents, is likely to head the alliance. ¡°I guess we could go for the job, but I¡¯m staying at Lasalle,¡± Professor Dixon insisted.

He predicted positive prospects for alumni, with job outcomes ¡°good and getting better¡± ¨C particularly for local acting students, who reported a 100 per cent employment rate in Lasalle¡¯s 2020 graduate survey. ¡°There¡¯s more demand than supply,¡± he said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com