As AY25/26 closes, we reflect on what a passionate group of RVRC students, invited artists, and educators built together, not through grand gestures, but through the quiet power of making art side by side. RVRC Artelier, in collaboration with Centre for the Arts' third space, and under the umbrella of NUSOne, welcomed over 130 students across 8 beginner-friendly art workshops. What emerged was something more than a co-curricular activity; this series of art workshops hosted by RVRC Artlier and open to all NUS students under NUSOne, was launched in 2024 and has become a living experiment in what happens when students genuinely slow down, engage, and connect.
Two themes anchored everything. The first was sustainability. Using art as a lens to examine our relationship with the natural world, and to ask the questions that matter: what do we value, and what are we inspired to protect? The second was mental wellness. In an environment of relentless academic pressure, these sessions carved out rare, restorative space. Students described the experience as therapeutic, grounding, and joyful. Small words that carry enormous weight. One student described simply being able to "switch off and focus on the repetitive, calming process" of creating, a reminder of how much students need, and benefit from, that kind of stillness. For others, the impact ran even deeper. An exchange student reflected that the workshops gave her not just a souvenir from Singapore, but "a core memory", speaking to how arts-based community experiences can transcend the transactional and become genuinely formative.
What made this especially meaningful was its peer-led dimension. RVRC Artelier’s student facilitators didn't just assist the sessions. They led, modelled creative courage, and in doing so, deepened their own sense of belonging. That spirit of community was recognised at the RVRC Student Achievement Awards 2026, where Artelier took home the Community Engagement award.
We acknowledge the support of the Centre for the Arts and the NUS Office of Student Affairs for making this series of workshop possible for a second year. We wrap up the year with something valuable: a model proving that accessible, arts-based programming rooted in sustainability and student wellbeing belongs at the heart of campus life.
