The creator from the 20
th
century that made an important contribution to our culture that I chose
for this discussion is Bob Ross, born October 29, 1942. Ross had a television show called
The
Joy of Painting
which aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS. He walks his audience through the steps
of creating landscape pictures. He encourages his audience to believe that they can paint.
The cultural work he created is an iconic and inspiring TV show where he taught his audience
the technique of painting called wet on wet or “alla prima”. His whole demeanor and tone of his
voice was very calming, comforting, as well as encouraging. When he made a mistake he would
say “there are no mistakes, just happy little accidents.” The way he spoke to the audience was
almost like it was a one on one lesson. This cultural work was influenced by Bob Ross’ love to
paint. He started painting while he was enlisted in the United States Air Force. His soft voice and
encouraging words give inspiration and hope to people that have always wanted to paint, but felt
that they couldn’t.
What
questions about human culture
does this work prompt?
Is this technique still being used today?
Who is the intended audience?
What
big questions
do you think influenced the cultural work you selected? Consider addressing
how this connects with the larger human need to express.
What made Ross decide to start taking a painting class while in the Air Force?
What was Ross’ inspirations for creating the TV series?
How does Ross connect with his audience?
