What Elizabeth A. "Bo" Ross Believed

Bo Ross

Bo Ross lamented that while corporations ravage and pollute the environments they infiltrate for their gain, they fail to create schools, community centers & health clinics in the regions they exploit.  Bo believed the building of caring and beautifully designed projects--primarily schools--could be accomplished with respect to both the environment and to local cultures.  She grieved the spate of uninspired cinder block construction that had begun to dot the world's poorest villages and communities.

The Elizabeth A. Ross Project is dedicated to Bo's thoughtful vision. 

The Elizabeth A. Ross Project believes:

Education = Hope = Dreams = The Power To Change The World

The Elizabeth A. Ross School Project gives form to the unsung nobility in the lives of these neglected children (and adults who are learning to read for the first time). 

Building Opportunity

The first project undertaken is a school in rural, northeastern Cambodia, Province of Stung Treng, Village of Bat. This is the most northerly town on Cambodia's stretch of the Mekong River.

Architectural materials and plans demonstrate an eco-friendly respect for the landscape and to the customs of the communities. Solar panels for schools in remote locations generate power for computers. 

Bo at Brasilfest in NYC, 2004

One can almost hear Bo say that online access will serve as an invitation to welcome these overlooked & neglected students to join our global village.

The Elizabeth A. Ross School opened in October, 2007, with 85 students in a five-room schoolhouse, equipped with five online-accessed computers powered by three solar panels. A backup generator is used during the rainy season.

 The Elizabeth A. Ross School in
 Stung Treng Province, Cambodia

A vegetable garden serves the entire community and is tended by students and villagers. A well was dug to provide water and a filtration system was installed. A nurse journeys to the school once a month to check-in on students.

Cambodia

The need for schools in Cambodia is urgent and pressing.

The country was devastated during the cruel Khmer Rouge reign (1975-1979) when millions were slaughtered.  Teachers--and anyone who wore eyeglasses--were considered an intellectual threat and were savagely killed to prevent learning and idea sharing.

The entire population was displaced to the rural areas and all were put into forced labor, deployed in the fields. 

The harsh regime left hundreds of thousands of Cambodians to die from inadequate nutrition, simple illnesses and mass starvation.

The country's civil war from 1970 to 1975 and the Cambodia-Vietnam War from 1978 to 1979 virtually destroyed Cambodia's economy. The average Cambodian worker lives far below our poverty level earning $310 a year.

The Cambodian people deserve help to rebuild their nation ravaged by war. Computer-equipped schools with Internet access will welcome children of Cambodia to connect with the world. They will bring with them the noteworthy tradition of their country's Golden Age that includes the building of the remarkable temples at Angkor Wat.

                  Sunrise At Angkor Wat

The Elizabeth A. Ross School is located in the Village of Bat, Stung Treng Province in northeastern Cambodia. Location for the School was based on need and selected by the Cambodian Ministry of Education. Funds to build the school were donated from generous friends of Bo and matched by the Asian Development Bank, along with noteworthy gifts from The Spunk Fund and the Caliban Foundation.


Land for the School was donated by the village in late Spring, 2006, and the first step was to clear the land mines left from Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge dictator. Once this process was complete, construction began. 


The School opened in October, 2007. Each student received some basic supplies.  It is the hope of  The Elizabeth A. Ross Project that music & art--and other forms of creative expression-- will become an integral part of the curriculum as finances permit, and that one day, musicians, artists, researchers & scientists will visit the five classroom School to share their work with the students. 

INTERNET ACCESS: From the very early planning stages, it was an imperative of The Elizabeth A. Ross Project that the School have access to the Internet as a way of inviting the students to join our global village. They are learning to read in Khmer and English. 

SOLAR PANELS:    Computers and lights at the school are powered by solar panels.

BACKUP GENERATOR:  There is a backup generator to help during the rainy season.

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COMMUNITY HUB: Plans to expand the School into a community center featuring a health clinic and additional resources are in the works. The School will become a hub for regional activities bringing people together to learn, grow, share ideas and prosper.  




THE VEGETABLE GARDEN:

It was imperative that the school have an adjacent vegetable garden to feed the students and the community. 

The garden was planted in October, 2007. The soil was amended during the past year and now flourishes, producing a wide variety of crops, from cucumbers to soybeans.

 

The entire village of Stung Treng turns out to help plant and work the garden.

 

The school serves lunch everyday to the students from the variety of beans and vegetables grown in the garden. The villagers also help themselves to the garden's offerings.

Elizabeth A. "Bo" Ross

Kind & innovative, people who met Bo Ross most often referred to her as "having an incredible light."

Bo's journey was characterized by the notion, that we are all equal. Whether Bo was escorting Jackie O to a publisher's meeting or assisting Julia Roberts in making her way to a pre-production discussion with Alan Pakula, or helping a stranger on the street, Bo treated everyone in the same manner; the bus boy and the CEO were identical to Bo. Her grace was a powerful lesson.  


Bo's professional life was varied; before she entered the TV & film industry, Bo worked in advertising, then at The Juilliard School, and later, Marlboro Gallery in New York City. One of her favorite projects there included compiling the catalog for a show by Larry Rivers.

Bo answered an ad for a "temp" and found herself on the 56th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center working directly for David Rockefeller.  

When a speech writer called in sick on the day of the all-important Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting, Bo jotted down her notes and research on the history of the tree at 30 Rock and shyly left her speech on David Rockefeller's desk along with the copy delivered by the seasoned team: that night, it was Bo's speech that David Rockefeller chose to deliver on the televised event.

How The Elizabeth A. Ross Project Was Started

Bo kept this photo on her desktop of a small child trying to rebuild her home after the 12/26/2004 Indian Ocean earthquake triggered the tsunami that struck Ao Nang, Thailand. 

Recalling Bo's views on building projects and her comments that corporations should be creating "DWELL-like projects in The Third World"--(as in Bo's favorite magazine, DWELL), I felt the best way to remember Bo's lovely light would be to build something with beauty and integrity in The Third World. 

I emailed Michael Hawley, at MIT, and asked if he knew about any caring building projects that were similar to Bo's views.  Engineer Hawley wrote back and told me about Bernard Krisher, a former Newsweek reporter that had covered Cambodia back in the 1970s. 


Bernard runs the American Assistance for Cambodia non-profit, and has been working to bring education and other humanitarian efforts to Cambodia.  The wheels were put in motion in Spring, 2006, to build a school in a remote area of the country. The School opened in October, 2007, and will continue to expand and grow.

Bo Ross on Main Beach, East Hampton, NY.  Photo by Bo's sister, Mary C. Ross

The Elizabeth A. Ross School  is already changing the world & working to bring us all closer together. 

BO and BRASIL

Bo said it was hearing "A banda" on the radio at the age of 8 (written by de Hollanda--performed by Herb Alpert), that started her lifelong love affair with Latin music.

Chico signed his songbook for Bo

Bo was passionate about the works of Antonio Carlos Jobim & Vinicius de Moraes.  

When her Brasilian friends in New York City, couldn't take the time to translate some of Jobim's lyrics, Bo learned to speak Brasilian-Portuguese on her own, and went on to write profiles for BOSSA magazine in both English and her new found language.

Bo translated web projects for Leila Pinheiro and wrote biographies for Brasilian performers such as Joyce and Paula Morelenbaum. 

When it was announced that Chico Buarque would speak at The New York Public Library in spring, 2005, as part of the American Pen lecture series, Bo purchased extra tickets and distributed them at no charge to eager Chico fans who couldn't afford to otherwise attend this coveted and historic event. That was sheer Bo.

 
 
Bo taught herself how to play guitar and enjoyed strumming in Joao Gilberto-fashion while studying the Chico Buarque and Jobim Song Books published by the late Almir Chediak.

THE BO ROSS COLLECTION FINDS HOME AT ARCHIVE OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC 

Says Elizabeth A. Ross Project blog curator, Susie Rakowski, "It’s taken me ten years to absorb, catalog, find the perfect venue and let go of an amazing collection of Brasilian music, literature, posters, concert footage, interviews, memorabilia and artifacts on Bossa Nova and Musica Popular Brasileira gathered over the years by Bo Ross. 

"Bo lost her battle with cancer on this day in 2005. Bo studied Brasilian-Portuguese so she could better enjoy and savor the real lyrics of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Chico Buarque, Edu Lobo, Carlos Lyra and Vinicius de Moraes among many others. 

"Bo wore several hats in her life, from working in the non-profit arena for David Rockefeller and in the film industry for Alan Pakula, but her favorite occupation was her last--contributing interviews and features to key Brasilian media on noteworthy musicians including Joyce, Leila Pinheiro, Rosa Passos, Ivan Lins, Sergio Mendes, Toquinho, Miucha, Jaques Morelenbaum and Eliane Elias. 

"I’m so glad Bo’s extraordinary collection has found a noble and appreciative home so that it can be shared by anyone interested in this meaningful musical and cultural history of Brasil. You can find the Bo Ross Collection at the ARChive of Contemporary Music, 54 White Street, New York, NY 10013. 

"Read ARChive's Founder and Curator, B. George's blog post on The Bo Ross Collection by clicking on the link below, or visit http://arcmusic.org/blog/thinking-about-carnivale/ " Susie Rakowski~ November 6, 2015

Bo Ross in Rio



http://arcmusic.org/blog/thinking-about-carnivale/

http://arcmusic.org/blog/thinking-about-carnivale/



The ARChive of Contemporary Music also holds the blues collection curated by Keith Richards and a collection of prized soundtracks donated by Martin Scorsese.


Bo wrote dozens of songs in tribute to Jobim, and also recorded a fun homage to Dick Dale, called "Surfrider".

Brasilian singer Leila Pinheiro and Bo Ross

 

Bo's Brasilian Triptych*Jobim* 

Bo's fascination and love for the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim began when she was just 8 years old. Bo went on to learn Brasilian-Portuguese so she could better understand the lyrics of her favorites that included Carlos Lyra and Chico Buarque.

Antonio Carlos Jobim

Bo wrote out a draft for a show she had in mind based on the partnership of Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, another of Bo's favorite Brasiian composers and poets.

Bo's tentative title for the project was "Brasilian Triptych." Bo also had wonderful ideas for Ana Jobim's Visions of Paradise book including the original concept to choreograph a composer's songbook for the stage. Since she originated this idea, many stage productions on Broadway have used this concept.
Her inventiveness was endless.

Here is Bo's draft for "Brasilian Triptych": 

THE BO ROSS TECH ROOM AT ROSIE O'DONNELL'S MARAVEL ARTS CENTER:

The tech room at Rosie O'Donnell's Maravel Arts Center is named in honor of Bo Ross. Visit https://rosiestheaterkids.org/maravel-arts-center/ to learn more about the school. 

(Susie Rakowski is curator of this site. Send her an email: elizabethboross@gmail.com)