You don’t have to paint to love Bob Ross. I can’t paint; I can barely even draw, which makes the sketchbook I received as a high school art prize somewhat ironic (I won it for making small ceramic sculptures). But every time I catch an episode of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, I can’t look away. Clearly he’s doing something right, even if I never pick up a brush.
The Bob Ross Experience documentary doesn’t set out to explain why people love Bob Ross (spoiler: it’s not just his amazing perm). It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how a former family home turned WIPB television studio in Muncie, Indiana, was transformed into a combination museum and immersive experience celebrating his work. On the surface, it’s one for the fans – but if you look a little deeper, it has a lot to say about how the man and his work has had an impact on generations.
Opening with a series of talking heads sharing the impact Ross had on them – they’re friends of Ross, or part of the team putting together the museum – what comes across isn’t so much the strength of his paintings as the power of his presence. One woman calls him her “go-to for calm, quiet positivity”. It’s safe to say nobody ever said that about Picasso.
'The Bob Ross Experience' takes viewers behind the scenes. Source: Ball State PBS
Each half-hour episode of The Joy of Painting (it originally ran from 1983 to 1994, and is now screening on weeknights on SBS VICELAND) follows roughly the same format. In his studio, Ross stands in front of a canvas and takes us through the steps as he paints a landscape in front of us. His syrupy-smooth monologue is full of painting tips and soothing encouragement, while also showcasing competency and skill: each episode shows him creating a painting from start to finish, no breaks or edits (he called his mistakes “happy accidents”).
If you’ve ever enjoyed a YouTube video of someone making or repairing something, you know how engaging watching something come together before your eyes can be. And even if you never feel the urge to join in – again, that would be me – watching Ross at work, creating a landscape out of a straightforward set of colours, just somehow feels right. He’s a skilled craftsman letting us into his world and telling us we belong there: who couldn’t use a bit of that in their lives?
Bob Ross at work. Source: SBS
So the big challenge the team faces in The Bob Ross Experience is a surprisingly profound one, even if they rarely express it that way. How do you celebrate a man whose calming, soothing presence made him an icon? Going too loud or interactive goes against the grain; being too reverential doesn’t seem like the way to go either.
“It’s so important to put his story back into this house,” says one of the curators early on. Exactly how they’re going to manage that is the big question. His 1980s-era studio is painstakingly recreated, so that visitors can get a real sense of the space he worked in. If you’ve ever watched The Joy of Painting, it’s a real thrill to see the studio in the present day. It’s as close as being there as you’re going to get without being there.
The curators are also keen to recreate a space where visitors can feel like they’re engaging with who Bob Ross was away from the cameras. As one of the team puts it, there needs to be somewhere that puts Ross into context. That’s one of the big advantages of having a former family house to work with: they can recreate a living room in an actual living room.
While woods and rivers were common, Ross also painted the sea, such as this piece, 'Stormy Seas'. Source: WIPB
There’s a lot of challenges too. For one, it’s not a big house. Trying to fit in a personal history, and to show what he meant to both the town and his viewers, and leave room for people to engage with the exhibits (especially when you have big exhibits, like the actual television cameras used) is a lot. And, of course, there has to be a space where visitors can celebrate Ross in the way he’d like best – by painting on canvas.
The completed museum gives visitors the chance to stand exactly where Ross stood, in front of the easel he used, looking at a painting he painted. It’s daunting and motivating in equal measure.
“We want to inspire people to feel that fearless creativity,” one of the curators says. That’s exactly what Bob Ross did, and continues to do – even if you never pick up a paint brush.
See The Bob Ross Experience screened on SBS VICELAND on 29 October and is now available at SBS On Demand:
The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross airs weekdays at 5.45pm on SBS VICELAND, with episodes also available .
