By Tara Tan, Arts Reporter

It has gone from a modest cluster of classrooms housed within St Patrick's school in East Coast Road to a glittering $121-million architectural icon in McNally Street.

Some might say that the Lasalle College of the Arts has finally arrived.

Indeed, under its new president, Briton Alastair Pearce, the school is celebrating its 25th anniversary in its new, funky premises and with plans to ensure it remains one of the top art schools here.

Clearly, the institution, with a student body of about 2,300 students, has moved on from the rocky times it went through two years ago. Then, it was mired in a high-profile controversy when its then-president, Professor Robert Ely, left his position after an apparent dispute with the Education Ministry. Lasalle's two vice-presidents, Mr Richard Berry and Mr Alan Lourens, also quit.

The school had said the trio left to 'pursue their professional interests' but industry sources said the ministry had wanted government funds given to Lasalle to be used solely for subsidising diploma programmes rather than for degree programmes.

It receives about $9.5 million in government funds annually, which makes up 30 per cent of its total operating costs.

Prof Pearce, 55, formerly the principal and chief executive of Rose Bruford College, a prominent performing arts school in London, stepped into the job last September. He says the school has a 'friendly' relationship with the ministry.

Currently, Lasalle offers diploma, degree and post-graduate programmes validated by foreign universities.

He says: 'I am more excited about what Lasalle does than what Lasalle is.'

He adds that he is happy to work with foreign universities to offer the degree programmes and 'understands that the ministry is happy with that arrangement'.

Next Wednesday, the school will celebrate its official opening at its McNally campus, a striking glass and stone building named Building of the Year last year by the Singapore Institute of Architects, in a private ceremony.

It has good reasons to celebrate.

Prof Pearce has mended relations with premier arts institutions such as Sotheby's Insitute of the Arts. Its partnership, which included plans to offer two postgraduate courses: a Master of Arts in Art Business and another in Contemporary Art, were withdrawn just before Prof Ely quit.

He has also drafted a five-year plan to define Lasalle's role in Singapore's creative industries.

'I see a fantastic institution with a fantastic new building but one that still has to articulate and live its role,' he says.

He has identified three key areas the school will be concentrating on: its curriculum will span Eastern and Western artistic directions, the school is to be linked with the creative communities and it aims to become a resource for Singapore's creative industries.

This means that all of its programmes, be it fashion, design communication, visual arts, theatre arts or film will involve the study of Eastern and Western artistic practices.

He says: 'Singapore is perfectly placed to have the debate between East and West because it is located in the East but is very articulate about the West.'

For instance, students taking acting courses will learn the traditional Chinese form of taiji, in addition to training in Western acting techniques.

These strategies come at an urgent time for Lasalle as it has to assert itself in the face of competition from the other major arts schools in Singapore.

These include the 70-year-old Nanyang Academy Of Fine Arts (Nafa), the Nanyang Technological University's School of Arts, Design and Media and the School of the Arts. There are also film and media diplomas offered in polytechnics.

Prof Pearce has met the president of Nafa, its friendly rival, to work out complementary plans. He says: 'Yes, we will compete in some ways but there are more things we have in common. We have different strengths and will develop our programmes where our strengths lie.

'Lasalle is strong in its understanding of contemporary creativity and will explicitly focus on contemporary creativity.'

Indeed, the school has garnered a reputation for producing graduates who are on the cutting edge of the local arts scene.

Renowned performance artists Amanda Heng and Cultural Medallion recipient Lee Wen, as well as local fashion designers Sven Tan (alldressedup) and Nicholas Wong (nicholas) hail from Lasalle.

Prof Pearce is making sure that the institution continues to nurture cutting-edge talent, in part by staffing it with practitioners. Among the school's 258 part-time instructors are actor Lim Yu Beng, screen music composer Joe Ng and the 149 full-time lecturers include actress Edith Podesta, who is the programme leader of acting, and painter Ian Woo, who is programme leader of post-graduate studies in fine art.

Visiting lecturers have included the avant-garde British fashion designer Gareth Pugh this year as well as French photographer Alain Fleischer last year.

About 80 per cent of the school's graduates find employment relevant to their area of study within four months of graduation, according to Lasalle. Mr Venka Purushothaman, vice-president (academic) and provost, says: 'Employability is a very key concern for us.'

Prof Pearce says he sees huge potential for the school in Singapore's creative landscape, which he has quietly observed in his eight months here.

He says: 'I am enjoying it hugely but I would like to see an increased development of home-grown work. The future must lie in the development of what is already a vibrant but comparatively small tradition of artistic creativity.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.