THE Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa), Singapore's oldest arts school, is celebrating its 70th birthday on Tuesday with a Founder's Day dinner and the launch of a commemorative coffee-table book.

The book showcases a collection of artworks belonging to the late Madame Lucien Wong, an alumnus who also taught at the school.

Other planned festivities, which will continue to December, feature exhibitions, performances and ceremonial events.

Highlights include the concert series featuring Beethoven's 9th series, an exhibition of artist and Nafa founding principal Lim Hak Tai's work as well as a fund-raising art-exhibition-cum-auction.

The school has nurtured no fewer than 11 Cultural Medallion Award winners and 11 Young Artist Award winners, including Lim Fei Shen (dance, 1988), Thomas Yeo (art, 1984) and Goh Boon Teck (theatre, 2001).

Ninety Cultural Medallion Awards and 91 Young Artist Awards have been given out since the awards' inception in 1979 and 1992 respectively.

Nafa is not just celebrating its past, but also looking forward to the future.

It is planning to award its own degrees within the next few years, rather than rely on tie-ups with overseas universities.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!