CELEBRATING THE BIRTH CENTENARY OF AN ARTS VISIONAIRE | LUMEN
in the importance of arts education led him to set up LASALLE in 1984 , where he later became the founder and President Emeritus of the La Salle- SIA College of the Arts ( now known as LASALLE College of the Arts ). Irish by birth and Singaporean by choice , Brother Joseph left his adopted country a body of achievements that continues to inspire new generations of artists and educators of the arts .
To celebrate the life and legacy of one of Singapore ’ s great champions of arts education , a documentary film on the life of Brother McNally was commissioned by LASALLE College of the Arts with support from The Ireland Funds Singapore . Produced by local filmmaker Mr . James Khoo from SJI ’ s Class of 2003 , ‘ Brother Joe ’ looks into the life of a man of the cloth who dared to dream beyond borders , both geographical and spiritual . An inspiring educator who touched the lives of all he taught and interacted with , Brother Joseph made the formalisation of contemporary arts education his personal mission in Singapore , and his faith and gumption forever revolutionised the landscape of learning for generations of artists , creatives and performers .
Some excerpts from the documentary :
TOMÀS MCNALLY
Tomàs McNally , nephew of Bro Joe : “ He put meaning to every one of them and beauty is in the beholder . He could see things that other people couldn ’ t see . It ’ s an art in itself ; not everybody has it .”
HELEN O ’ TOOLE
Helen O ’ Toole , niece of Bro Joe & Lasalle lecturer ( 1993-1995 ): “ He believed everyone has potential . He thought everyone could be an artist … I wouldn ’ t have that belief myself … I think that one can nurture people … if the students think they have no talent , he will go “ Yes , you have talent . You can do it .” He had high expectations of people and I think he thought everyone should achieve at a very high level .”
NICHOLAS SEET
Lasalle Brother Nicholas Seet : “ We want uniform success , but uniform success requires uniform people , and we know people are never uniform , people are so different , so diverse , differently gifted and Joe was very well aware of that .” “ In art , you have a lot of respect for the materials you are working with …. these are dead pieces of steel ; they are nothing ; they are connected to a human tragedy . From the human tragedy ,
Brother brings a thing of beauty . So the same when you work with children , they are the raw material that you must respect . They may be deformed , or not well-formed , or scarred by the human tragedies in their life . But they are the material you must respect . The teacher must be an artist that works with the material . … When you see this child is more than that , then you know how much more you can work to help the child to become what he is meant to be .”
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