Making time for the arts at Yale-NUS

From large musical productions to small painting sessions in the arts studio, Yale-NUS has consistently fostered one instinct in many of its students—the urge to create.

One such creation is the upcoming production Tiwala: A Musical, which is set to be performed in 2022. “I have always wanted to write a musical,” said Yale-NUS alumnus and co-creator Miguel Ochosa (Class of 2021). “I spent my high school and college days honing my skills in singing, acting, and dance. Writing and directing, however, were always a step outside of my comfort zone.”

The seeds for the musical were planted within the College’s own recording studio, Black Box Theatre, and the homely suite where Miguel and co-creator Steven Sy (Class of 2022) decided to write a musical together.

With the help of musicians, visual artists, performers, and various staff from the College, the musical has been steadily coming to fruition.

“Every aspect of this piece, from conception to creation, was created in Yale-NUS, by the Yale-NUS community,” Miguel remarked. “I personally never would have garnered the confidence to embark on such a daunting project without the creative community we have at the College.”

Titled after the Tagalog word for ‘faith’ or ‘trust’, the musical is set in a fictional Filipino community called ‘Barangay Tiwala,’ and explores how the things people put their faith in come to define who they are.

The co-creators, who are both Filipino, adapted the story based on “the historical tropes, social issues, and political struggles” that they had witnessed all their lives.

A screengrab from the musical’s virtual workshop in June 2021. Image provided by Miguel Ochosa.

For others like Vanessa Thian (Class of 2022) and Shona Tan (Class of 2022), their passion for the arts inspired them to create a space for students to use to harness their creative instincts.

They currently run Life Drawing Circle, which brings students together to learn and practise figure drawing of live models. Held for a second semester running, Vanessa and Shona provide materials and models for the weekly sessions, and hold mini lectures on life drawing principles for participants.

Vanessa’s first exposure to life drawing was through a module by Yale-NUS Lecturer of Humanities (Visual Arts) Dr Yanyun Chen. After immensely enjoying the experience and attending several other life drawing classes outside the College, Vanessa wondered if she could share her love for the art with fellow students in a college setting.

So together with Shona, Vanessa acted on this inspiration and saw her Life Drawing Circle take shape earlier this year. While the Circle has attracted many skilled students, Vanessa and Shona hope it will also be a space for others to try something new.

Participants of the Life Drawing Circle during a drawing session. Image provided by Vanessa Thian.

“We want this to be a space for students who have honed their artistic abilities to practise their skills without needing to pay a lot of money to attend classes outside, but also for less experienced students to create art,” Shona explained.

“We have split the sessions into both regular and beginner-friendly sessions. In our beginner-friendly sessions, we do a little lecture on the basics of life drawing,” Shona shared. “A lot of people come in thinking that they are not artistically inclined, but they end up surprising themselves and us too.”

Elsewhere on campus, student organisations like the Visual Arts Society (VAS) are also committed to giving opportunities to create art to artists of varying experience levels.

For instance, VAS holds One Night Stand, an annual event, where participants are invited to create and exhibit their art in the Art Studios within 24 hours.

Said Marcellinus Jericho (Class of 2024), President of the Visual Arts Society: “The point is that there is no expectation.”

“We provide all the materials, and people just come in to paint and draw. One student even did a painting on his own skateboard,” he recalled.

Student artists at One Night Stand 2021. Image provided by Visual Arts Society

Apart from One Night Stand, VAS often holds Art Jams—spaces for students to freely use a variety of art materials together with other members of the College community.

“There are always different people showing up,” Marcellinus said, “because there is no pressure to make good art. It is meant to be relaxing and fun.”

But the process of creating meaningful art is not always smooth sailing, as Vanessa and Miguel know all too well.

For Miguel, it was restrictions to their rehearsals due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as his lack of experience writing for the stage that posed heavy challenges. For Vanessa, it was a difficulty with administrative tasks, such as harmonising everyone’s schedules, to run Life Drawing Circle smoothly.

Nevertheless, the satisfaction that comes with creating art often makes up for their difficulties.

“This whole process was an uncomfortable yet extremely fruitful learning experience,” Miguel shared.

“Without Yale-NUS, there would be no Tiwala—and so this project will always be my own personal testament to and reminder of the beauty and blessing that is the Yale-NUS community.”