Flying Golden Deer

Credit: Gift of Sunflower Chong 2000, Collection of SMU

Brother Joseph McNally (b. 10 August 1923, County Mayo, Ireland – d. 27 August 2002, Ballintubber, County Mayo, Ireland), was a brother from the Catholic La Salle Christian Brotherhood who dedicated his life to education, art advocacy and art, and was teaching in Singapore and Malaysia for 37 years. He later gained renown as a sculptor and artist, and was also the founder of today's LASALLE College of the Arts.

McNally's path as an educator began when he left his hometown at the age of 14 to join La Salle Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation. He studied and completed his novitiate at De La Salle Retreat in Castletown, and his scholasticate at De La Salle College. In 1943, while teaching at the College, he took art classes at Mallow Technical School in the evenings, and entered a nationwide painting competition at the Festival of Limerick in 1946 where he clinched the first prize. The award encouraged him to continue pursuing art.

McNally was soon after posted to Singapore and began teaching at St Joseph's Institution at the age of 23. In his free time, he painted portraits and landscapes in oil. McNally returned to Ireland in 1951 to further his studies at the Irish National College of Art, Dublin, where he received classical art training in drawing, painting and sculpture. He also took classes on contemporary art which exposed him to non-classical approaches to Western art. After graduating, he returned to Malaya in 1955 to teach at St Paul's Institution in Seremban and then St Xavier's Institution in Penang. In 1958, he was appointed a staff member of St Joseph's Training College in Penang, and in 1962 vice-principal of St John's Institution in Kuala Lumpur. He became principal the following year. During this period, McNally completed several murals for Catholic churches and educational institutions in Singapore, Penang and Myanmar.

In 1968, McNally took a break from teaching and enrolled in a Master in Arts programme at Columbia University, New York, where he studied painting, printmaking, sculpture and art history. The sabbatical proved pivotal to his development as an artist. He was introduced to the use of machinery in sculpting, a process that he preferred over the traditional and slower method of chiselling and hammering. He also learned techniques and mediums such as polystyrene, polyester, and wax and bronze casting, which gave him new ways to express his creativity through form making. As McNally found it easier and more satisfying to create three-dimensional art, he switched from painting to sculpture–the artistic form that he eventually became known for. In 1970, McNally returned to Malaysia and taught at St Joseph's Training College while concurrently researching his doctoral dissertation. He attained his PhD in Art Education from Columbia University in 1972.

In 1973, McNally joined St Patrick's School in Singapore as a teacher and became its principal in 1975. He implemented many changes and innovations during his term at St Patrick's, including setting up a student's council and a students' parliament where elected students were allowed to make school rules, and forming the Patrician Society where parents, teachers and alumni could come together to discuss educational policies or raise funds for the school. He retired from St Patrick's in 1982.

Spurred by a vision to develop and nurture creativity in visual and performing arts, McNally went on to found St Patrick's Arts Centre in 1984, which later expanded to become today's LASALLE College of the Arts. He retired as its president in 1997 and was conferred the honorary title of President Emeritus.

McNally took up Singapore citizenship in 1985. He made many other contributions to the development of the arts and the institutionalisation of art education in Singapore. Notably, he advised the Ministry of Education in its review and revision of the arts syllabus and helped establish the Arts Elective Programme in schools. He was a member of the Visual Arts Advisory Committee (Ministry of Community Development) from 1988–1989, head of the Creative Taskforce on Visual Arts set up by the Economic Development Board in 1990, and a member of the National Arts Council when it was established in 1991. In recognition of his contributions to the promotion of the arts in Singapore, McNally was awarded the Public Service Medal in 1990 and the Meritorious Service Medal in 1997.

In addition to being an educator and art advocate, McNally was also a highly regarded sculptor. The small farming community of County Mayo where he grew up with its ancient history, sweeping natural landscapes and deep spiritualism, helped to shape his artistic vision in adulthood. Many of McNally's works reflect inspiration drawn from nature, Celtic motifs and mythology as well as his religious faith. He used a diverse range of materials such as wood, epoxies, glass and metal to create sculptures that were an ingenious blend of East and West, focusing on the themes of humanity and nature. The sculptures were strongly influenced by Celtic mythology and the values of Southeast Asia, with the human figure and trees as recurring subjects. A major retrospective exhibition of his works, titled "Wind of the Spirit", was held at the Singapore Art Museum from 13 November 1998 to 31 January 1999. His sculpture, Agonising Form (1973), is on display at the DBS Singapore Gallery at the National Gallery Singapore.

Further information:
Singapore Infopedia article on Brother Joseph McNally, https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_682_2005-01-12.html