a look at... photography by win wolloff Ann McKeel Ross and Dr. Jay Ross Arts enthusiast Ann McKeel Ross and her husband Dr. James (Jay) Ross are avid collectors of contemporary art who met at Western Kentucky University. They will have been married for 64 years this August. Their three sons went to Berkeley Preparatory School and Jesuit High School, where Jay was active in the Dad’s Club at both Tampa schools. Ann and Jay were the first members of the University of South Florida’s Graphicstudio, which encourages new possibilities for artistic practice. The Rosses have loaned part of their personal art collection to the Florida Gulf Coast Museum, Polk Museum of Art, the Stuart County Arts Council Gallery, the Brevard Museum of Art, the Albany, (Georgia) Museum, the Atlanta College of the Arts Gallery at the Woodroffe Center, the Brandon Cultural Center, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Ringling Museum, the Tampa Museum of Art and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa. Ann, a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was involved with the Tampa Bay Art Center, which later became the Tampa Museum of Art. She helped create the early version of the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts and has been chair of the Arts Council of Hillsborough County, vice chair of the Florida Arts Council and on the board of the Southern Arts Federation. Jay, a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, has served as president of the Hillsborough County Dental Society and as a trustee of the Florida Dental Association. He was the team dentist for all of the sports at the University of South Florida for 25 years and is a fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry and a fellow of the American College of Dentists. At what do you excel? Ann: I graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in fine arts and a major in photography and ceramics and at one time considered myself to be a creative photographer and potter. Jay: I had a thriving and very successful dental practice for 35 years with many appreciative patients. What provides you with pleasure? Ann: Being with our wonderful family: Cary and Sandy, Brian and Wendy, David and Jim, our five granddaughters Kelly, Katherine, Ann, Caroline, Meredith and our great-grandson, Cooper. Jay: I am an avid sports fan especially for the Bucs, USF Bulls, Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals. Who is your role model? Ann: My deceased parents and two sisters were the ones I emulated. Currently, I have many people I admire and respect greatly such as Pam Iorio, Judy Lisi, Betty Castor, etc., and my longtime adviser and special friend, Art Keeble. Jay: My brother, Al Ross, who is a very successful businessman, entrepreneur, philanthropist and weekly volunteer at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville. 94 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | MARCH/APRIL 2017 What is the best advice you have ever been given? Ann: My entire life I have heard my mother say “Don’t say anything about someone if you cannot say something nice.” Jay: A favorite high school teacher left teaching to become a dentist and he urged me to enter the dental profession, and I have never been sorry. Why do you do what you do? Ann: I believe I have had the two best jobs in Tampa as director of Community Relations at the University of South Florida and vice president of Advancement at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, now the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Jay: Being retired gives me the flexibility to do just about anything I wish to do. What don’t people know about you? Ann: I rode three-gaited and five-gaited horses in horse shows. Jay: I played the piano for weddings and receptions. What are your favorite words of wisdom? Ann: Success is not counted by how high you have climbed but how many you have brought with you. Jay: I heard this from a speaker at a dental lecture: “It is better to do the harder right than do the easier wrong no matter your task.” What is your motto? Ann: It is not a motto, but I have a few sayings . . . “It is what it is,” “This too shall pass,” and this one I truly believe, “Age is just a number.” Jay: “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” How do you think other people would describe you? Ann: I hope they would think I am a kind and caring person. Jay: Dedicated to the dental profession. What would you like to do that you have never done? Ann: Run a marathon. I ran the Gasparilla 15K and races throughout the state and was training for a 26-mile race when I broke my foot. Jay: Be a NASCAR driver! How would you describe yourself? Ann: A supporter of the visual and performing arts. Jay: A detail-oriented happy retiree. What would you like to be able to do that you can’t do? Ann: See more of our great-grandson Cooper, who lives in Seoul, South Korea, with his parents who teach at the American School. Jay: Solve all the technological problems that crop up on our computers, smartphones and other instruments everyday. 9
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