Skip to content

Labor Day: Dream Big Dreams

By Matt Ross

In honor of Labor Day, I thought that I would share some thoughts about this holiday. When I was a kid, I hated it! Summer is over and back to school! Ugh. When I became a parent, I started to love it because it allowed me to slide back into…

Read More

Creative Skills Linked to Business Success

By Matt Ross

I’ve spent the last 20 years building creative education businesses and I have always believed that the benefits of investing in your creative skillset went far and beyond the actual artistic outcomes you were generating in the moment. And there is a plethora of new research that supports my long-held…

Read More

The Creative Road

By Matt Ross

I was in the backseat of a car this weekend on my way home from the Newport Folk Festival when I caught this image along the I-95. The sun was setting and my creative curiosity kicked in.  This photo captured the moment for me…the beauty of the world shows up…

Read More

Our Communities

By Matt Ross

It is so amazing to see the turnout and support for our student exhibitions across all our communities. Everyone who has attended so far was in for a real treat. We use these moments as an opportunity to reflect on how important it is to be part of something that…

Read More

Jack Whitten The Messenger

By Matt Ross

The artwork above is titled “911”. The artist Jack Whitten lived in Tribeca and was standing outside when the planes flew overhead, and he watched the buildings get hit and the chaos that ensued. He stopped making art and for the next five years he worked exclusively on this object…

Read More

My Purpose

By Matt Ross

Over the last 20 years, I’ve committed my life to building creative education businesses, and it has been so rewarding seeing the positive impact that we’ve had on so many people. And, I have used that experience to refine my purpose, and I want to share a little bit more…

Read More

Happy Mother’s Week!

By Matt Ross

Since there are so many things being debated right now, I’d like to add something fresh to the agenda: Mother’s Day becomes Mothers Week!!! First, who would argue with me on this one?  Plain and simple, life begins and ends with Mom!  And to make things more profound, today would be…

Read More

The Kindness Project

By Matt Ross

Many years ago, we decided that every April we would create an art project in each of our schools to close the gap on a specific challenge. The challenge that I’m speaking of is how we engage people with Autism and the goal was to create awareness and more understanding…

Read More

On Plan or Pivot?

By Matt Ross

One of my strengths is that I’m constantly thinking about my goals and measuring how I’m doing relative to my plan. I love the term “pivot” because it is empowering and allows me the control to flip the switch and move in another direction at my discretion. Whether you are…

Read More

It’s All About Growth

By Matt Ross

With all the things we have on our to-do list, maybe the most important one is this: how are you spending your time to facilitate growth? Most of the people who read my Monday Thoughts are adults with a keen interest in creative growth for their kids and themselves, but…

Read More