The At LASALLE College of the Arts’ 30th Convocation on Friday, 23 September 2016, Isabelle Lim graduated with a Diploma in Fine Arts. Isabelle, who is LASALLE’s first Dare to Dream scholar, has never let her small stature affect her dream of becoming a professional photographer. She shared that she was happy that she has “finally graduated and relieved” as her “hard work and perseverance have paid off.”

Mr Ahmad Anuar Umar, who was a sepak takraw player for his secondary school, continues to nurture his love for the sport through drawing and installation art. Being one of only five LASALLE Diploma students who received the Winston Oh Travel Award, he was able to travel to Myanmar last May to research and observe the traditional sport in the country where it is called chinlone.

The Award is a grant that allows top students from LASALLE’s McNally School of Fine Arts to travel overseas while doing research and developing their own art practice.

Benson Lee, BA(Hons) Product Design alumnus and the first Singaporean designer to work for the prestigious Porsche Design Studio (now known as Studio F.A. Porsche), shares his educational journey with The Straits Times "Beyond O Levels" special. He credits his specialised artistic education at LASALLE for bringing out his talents as a designer. "The course of study in Lasalle helped me look at Product Design as a bigger picture... and how design, as a whole, can be a driving factor for economic development across different sectors," said Benson.

In an interview with The Straits Times, Muhammad Sanoccima Shaiful Bahar who graduated with a BA(Hons) Music, First Class Honours from LASALLE College of the Arts, looked back at how music has changed his life.

He shared, "Where I grew up, at my secondary school, and at that age, you get into trouble with drugs and gangs. But it was the guitar that kept me busy, and kept me at home." At a friend's encouragement, he applied to LASALLE after secondary school. "The day I was accepted was one of the happiest days of my life," he said.

LASALLE College of the Arts, which marked its 30th Convocation last month, continues to break new ground, from hiring prominent arts educators to nurturing gifted graduates. Among LASALLE's acclaimed global faculty is Dr Joseph Curiale, an Emmy-nominated composer with nearly three decades of experience working with Hollywood's creme de la creme. Dr Curiale joined LASALLE as a full-time music lecturer last August.

Four teams of aspiring filmmakers from LASALLE were featured in the 20/20: The Temasek Short Film Project, an inaugural initiative from Temasek to nurture film talent in Singapore.

Through the project, Temasek, a Singapore investment company, supported students with funding and mentorship to create short films inspired by real-life stories from Temasek’s non-profit philanthropic organisations.

Stories explored include a young man’s dream of becoming a dancer, a caregiver’s struggles, and a church leader who learns to accept an autistic teenager in his cell group.

20 short films that garnered more than a million views on social media were created by students from eight different institutions including LASALLE College of the Arts, as part of 20/20: The Temasek Short Film Project.

Among the 20 stories, the short film titled I Believe received the highest viewership. BA(Hons) Film student Leroy Lim from LASALLE’s Puttnam School of Film & Animation who produced the film, was selected by the film company mm2 Entertainment to produce his first feature film.

Channel NewsAsia reports that Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and LASALLE College of the Arts introduced a new intensive scriptwriting programme, WritersLab, on Wednesday (7 Dec). This programme is an effort to bring the standard of local television and online scriptwriting to the next level.

At the opening ceremony of the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on Wednesday (7 Dec), Minister of State for Communications and Information and Health Chee Hong Tat announced the launch of WritersLab, a scriptwriting masterclass by Infocomm Media Development Authority in collaboration with LASALLE College of the Arts, to hone storytelling skills for television and online platforms.

Critic’s picks from the exhibition Art Moves, A travelling showcase by emerging artists by BA(Hons) Fine Arts, Class of 2015, showcasing seven selected works from alumni artists whose works are being exhibited for sale at tcc cafes around Singapore as part of a year-long collaboration.