School Of Art One River Is A Joyful Place To Follow Your Muse

MATT ROSS SERVED AS CEO of the School of Rock music education company from 2005 to 2010. After that, he did some consulting work and thought about opening a New York art gallery.

- Jay Lustig

“I became enamored with visual art, particularly contemporary art,” says Ross, who lives in Cresskill. “I took six classes at NYU in the continuing education program, I read 35 books, I started traveling the world, visiting art fairs and artists' studios. I became obsessed with it and completely enamored with visual artists in the way in which I used to think about musicians.”

His obsession ended up leading not to a New York gallery, but to the One River School of Art + Design, which opened in Englewood in 2012 and has since held classes with more than 3,500 students. Last April, the school announced a franchise initiative and a second location was scheduled to open in Allendale in January.

Ross’ primary goals for the schools are to “change art education in America” and “create the next generation of great artists.” If this sounds impossibly ambitious, keep in mind that during Ross’ time at School of Rock, its number of franchises grew from five to 55. It now has more than 160 locations in nine countries and truly has influenced a generation of musicians. (School of Rock has no involvement in One River, though Ross remains an investor in that company and owns three of its New Jersey franchises.)

One River, which was given that name because Englewood is “one river” from New York, is a sleek, modern looking school with a large entrance room that often doubles as a gallery. Ross — a New York native from Queens who worked in the radio industry for 20 years before moving to School of Rock — believes it is important to host exhibits by contemporary artists as a way of “keeping a connection with what’s real and what’s current in the art world.”