Fred Ross

Frederick Joseph Ross (May 12, 1927 – August 19, 2014) LL. D. was a New Brunswick based Canadian artist best known for his figurative drawings, paintings and murals.

Early life Ross was born in on May 12, 1927 in Saint John, New Brunswick, to parents Ernest L. Ross and Elizabeth Drake. He studied art at the Saint John Vocational School. Ross received a bachelor of fine arts from Mount Allison University and a bachelor of education from the University of New Brunswick. After its unveiling in 1948, the mural was later dismantled and lost in the 1950s. The chance discovery of the full-scale mural drawings, now housed at the National Gallery of Canada, provided what would eventually become a treasure map-like route to the mural's restoration. With what grew to be nationwide support, three studio assistants, who were guided by Fred Ross and the drawings that he had created more than 60 years earlier, retraced the developmental process of the mural in what would prove to be the most ambitious reanimation of a cultural treasure in Canadian art history. This unprecedented story of the mural's history — its creation, loss, and eventual restoration and return to public prominence is documented in the text "Redeemed: Restoring the Lost Fred Ross Mural", written and edited by William Forrestall, and published by the University of New Brunswick. The Beaverbrook Art Gallery held a retrospective exhibition of his work titled The Art of Fred Ross - A Timeless Humanism curated by Tom Smart in 1993. in 1984 and the Order of New Brunswick in 2008.