Cultivating Creative Futures
The inaugural Choy Weng Yang Teaching Excellence Award recognises educators whose dedication to teaching and learning inspires students and strengthens the UAS community.
Made possible by the family of the late visual artist and curator, Mr Choy Weng Yang, the Choy Weng Yang Teaching Excellence Award is the first award at the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) dedicated to excellence in arts education.
For inspiring the next generation of artists through creative excellence and dedicated mentorship, four outstanding educators across LASALLE College of the Arts (LASALLE) and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), founding members of UAS, were recognised as the inaugural recipients of the Award at the University Sharing and Awards Ceremony on 9 October 2026.
From practice to possibility
Across different disciplines and approaches, the four educators bring professional experience, creative practice and a deep commitment to mentorship into the learning environment.
By creating opportunities for students to experiment, engage with real-world contexts, and develop their own ideas, they help to nurture confident, adaptable and reflective artists and practitioners.
Their contributions extend beyond the classroom, through curriculum development, collaboration, community engagement and emerging areas of practice, strengthening both arts education and the broader creative landscape.
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Congratulations to the inaugural recipients of the Choy Weng Yang Teaching Excellence Award!
Tan Guo Lian Sutton
Adjunct Lecturer, School of Dance & Theatre, LASALLE
An active practitioner with extensive experience in the performing arts, Sutton brings current professional perspectives into his teaching at LASALLE. His contributions also extend to curriculum development, leadership and sustained service to the institution. Through his teaching and practice, he encourages students to cultivate their own artistic voices while understanding the realities and possibilities of professional practice. His work reflects the value of bringing industry experience into the classroom, giving students perspectives they can draw on as they develop as practitioners.
“I hope they remain open, curious, and kind. I hope they treat dogma and absolutes with increasing suspicion. Above all, I hope they don't take themselves too seriously (I teach predominantly theatre and actors, so I often remind them their chosen career path hasn’t moved on from “let’s play pretend!”).”
Tan Chye Leng Jeffrey
Adjunct Faculty, School of Arts Management, NAFA
Jeffrey brings his experience as a theatre practitioner and community facilitator into his teaching at NAFA. His involvement in community-based projects and the arts sector gives students opportunities to consider how arts practice can respond to different people, places and social contexts. By connecting classroom learning with practice, he encourages students to look beyond a single way of working and develop the awareness and versatility needed to engage across different settings.
“Drawing on my theatre background, I help students connect learning to practice through role-play. By pitching themselves to “potential employers” played by classmates, students gain immediate feedback while observing others’ strengths and weaknesses. They then reflect, refine, and improve. It becomes a rehearsal for reality, building confidence, adaptability, and professional communication.”
Michelle Loh Wen Han
Full-Time Lecturer, School of Creative Industries, LASALLE
Michelle has contributed to curriculum and programme development, collaborative initiatives and the wider academic and literary life of LASALLE. Her teaching is grounded in strong engagement with students and a willingness to explore new approaches to learning.
Her work creates space for students to question, experiment and take greater ownership of their ideas. Alongside her teaching, her contributions to the wider academic community reflect a commitment to building an environment where students can develop with confidence and purpose.
“Teaching is both a calling and a service. I create inclusive spaces for research, experimentation, critical reflection and industry engagement, helping students discover their roles in the global creative industries. Through projects such as Inherited Narratives, Wear it, Share It and DeskNotes, students develop ideas into meaningful creative and professional practice.”
Park Hye Young
Full-Time Faculty, School of 3D Design, NAFA
Hye Young has been a driving force behind the development of NAFA’s Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Biophilic Design programme, working with industry and academic partners to shape its curriculum and implementation. Her teaching incorporates experiential, community-engaged and professional learning, giving students opportunities to explore design responses to real needs and environments. Through this work, she has helped open a distinctive area of design education while creating meaningful opportunities for students to learn through doing.
“My role is to encourage students to question assumptions, test ideas and learn through dialogue and reflection. Through the NAFA’s Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Biophilic Design programme, I hope to nurture individual perspectives and shared responsibility, recognising that complex urban challenges require collective effort to reimagine how we inhabit and care for our environments.”
Professor Kwok Kian Woon, Vice-Chancellor, UAS, said: “Through this Teaching Excellence Award, we recognise the dedication of our practitioner-educators such as Sutton, Jeffrey, Michelle and Hye Young. Our students draw insight and inspiration from their experience and expertise, which shape the distinctive learning environment of our arts university. We hope that in time our graduates will also serve as role models for their peers and make their special contributions to the creative economy and wider society.”
Carrying the gift forward
The award affirms the transformative role of educators and extends the values behind the Choy family’s gift to shaping future generations of artists. Read our earlier feature, “Inspiring Future Generations through Arts Education“, for the story behind the award and the Choy family’s hopes for its legacy.
