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The Best Art Project? Starting a New Art School!!!

By Matt Ross

A couple weeks ago, I wrote “Monday Thoughts” with the promise of sharing some learnings that you may find both interesting and personally helpful as we approached our 10th anniversary. The photograph above captures our “window sign” during the construction phase leading up to the opening of our first school…

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Ten Years and Counting

By Matt Ross

OK, I have an assignment for you. Close your eyes and think about where you were 10 years ago. Where were you in your life? What were you happy about and what were you trying to change? What was motivating you? What was going on around you? And, what is…

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Visual Curiosity

By Matt Ross

Can you tell me what the image above is?   One of the things that I love most about going on a trail-walk is coming around the bend and finding a landscape that stops me in my tracks. My visual curiosity often takes over and I find myself lost in…

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The Most Compelling Creative Camps

By Matt Ross

I like nothing more than visiting our schools on Fridays during the summer. This allows me to observe the wind down of a week of camp and inevitably the joy on our students faces.   As I bounced across a couple schools last Friday, I also had a chance to…

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The Supreme Court, Warhol, Prince and Transformation

By Matt Ross

When we started One River School, I was particularly interested in creating a “transformative” experience and over the last 10 years I feel that in many ways our unique methods have rolled up into something that has accomplished this goal. When it comes to art making, the term “transformation” is…

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Happy Birthday America

By Matt Ross

As I started to write my Monday Thoughts, I wanted to honor July 4th by wishing happy birthday to all Americans on this date. But, at the same time, I started to wonder why I was feeling trepidation about writing this and it made me think a little bit deeper…

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The Evolving Landscape

By Matt Ross

Last week I had the pleasure of taking almost 30 of our key employees to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Besides having an incredible day, I found myself thinking about our growth and evolving landscape against the backdrop of New York’s evolving landscape. 10 years have passed since we started…

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Lucky

By Matt Ross

No matter how you slice it, luck plays an important role in determining your success in life. And, I’m not really speaking about financial success. What I’m talking about is fulfillment… you’ve got to be really lucky to find a pathway that allows you to do what you really love…

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Showtime

By Matt Ross

Throughout the month of June, it is showtime across the One River network!  That means we are installing in our galleries and studios original artwork made by all of our students to celebrate the majesty of art making and the importance of sharing it with the world.   Over the…

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Nicole Eisenman is Making Art for the Soul

By Matt Ross

Every once in a while, you see or hear something that stops you in your tracks.   No, I’m not talking about politics… I’m talking about the arts.  Think about the first time you heard a song that stuck with you forever.  Or, a performance by an actor in a movie…

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