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Improving Mental Health Through the Arts

By Matt Ross

The relationship between the arts and mental health is well established and there is growing evidence that the arts can be used to help people with anxiety, depression and other issues that impact us. Making art as a form of mental health treatment dates back to the mid-20th century, when soldiers returning from…

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Adults Creating, Learning and Growing

By Matt Ross

Nothing makes me happier than seeing one of our adult students sharing a completed project. And the joy on their face doesn’t simply represent the pride that comes with making something, it also represents the personal development that comes with the process. Sandra McSorley, a student at our Middletown school,…

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The Art of Excellence

By Matt Ross

Viewing a great painting, listening to a great song, tasting great food, reading a great novel, watching an amazing dance performance are all equal to the experience of watching an amazing quarterback delivering at a high-level, with everything on the line. One of the things that excites me most in…

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Planning for Summer Camp

By Matt Ross

I know we are sitting here on February 5th and for a lot of us, summertime seems so far away. But, before you know it, you will be in the throes of trying to figure it out, so I wanted to share a couple of thoughts today. Our summer camp programs at…

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Showtime at One River

By Matt Ross

During the last few weeks, our schools presented their winter 2024 student exhibitions and the feedback has been amazing. The images coming across my desk represent a wide variety of compelling projects and spectacular outcomes, and you can clearly tell that our students have been fully engaged in the creative…

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Embracing MLK

By Matt Ross

The statue depicted, “The Embrace,” is one of the most interesting and compelling works of art. It is inspired by a photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King embracing and the statue sits in Boston Common. Created by artist Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group, the purpose…

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An Eye into the Future

By Matt Ross

This artwork from Cameron Welch is one that I absolutely love. I find it to be optimistic and it provides me with a feeling of hope that is so important to be thinking about as we move into the holidays and wind down this year. It is my perspective that…

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AI Art…What Does it Mean?

By Matt Ross

That’s a broad question. On one hand, the image above looks pretty cool and was generated in seconds via Open Art AI. “Holiday Season Contemporary Painting Colorful” was the prompt and in seconds this image was created. There are so many ways to look at this topic, but to tell…

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Thankful

By Matt Ross

As I get older, one of the things that makes me happiest is to share some joy and help others. So, I thought I would take a minute to pass along some thoughts after Thanksgiving so that we can keep the gratitude going that I felt last week. Recently, I…

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Teen Artists in the House

By Matt Ross

The image you’re looking at was taken last week on a random pop-in at One River School in Larchmont, NY. It is also indicative of what’s happening at each of our locations. We have been able to create a new method that is inspiring teens artists to have more fun…

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