The spirit of painter Bob Ross endures in Muncie

<p dir="ltr">Never mind that he died 25 years ago and that his low-budget TV show was filmed at a small public television station housed in a converted historic home.</p> <p dir="ltr">Bushy-haired art instructor <strong>Bob Ross</strong> and <strong><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAEQD0ULngi67rwmhrkNjMZKvyCReqDV4">The Joy of Painting </a></strong>series that he hosted are in the spotlight again, with <strong><a href= "https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bob-ross-experience-opens-in-indiana/index.html">CNN</a></strong>, <strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/01/arts/television/bob-ross-experience-indiana.html"><em>The New York Times</em></a></strong> and other national media doing recent reports from <strong>Muncie</strong>. </p> <p dir="ltr"><img src= "http://hoosierhistorylive.org/images/Jessica-Jenkins-2020.JPG" alt="Jessical Jenkins" width="209" height="280" align= "right" />That's because <strong><a href= "https://www.minnetrista.net/">Minnetrista</a></strong>, the cultural museum complex and gardens located in Muncie, has opened a permanent exhibit, <strong><a href= "https://www.minnetrista.net/bobrossexperience">The Bob Ross Experience</a></strong>, in a former home of one of the <strong><a href= "https://www.ball.com/na/about-ball/overview/history-timeline">Ball Brothers</a></strong>, whose glass canning business introduced the iconic Mason jar.</p> <p dir="ltr">The <strong>Lucius L. Ball House</strong> served as the location of the studio where <a href="https://wipb.org/"><strong>WIPB</strong></a>, the public TV station in Muncie, filmed many of the episodes of the how-to-paint series that was an unexpected, national hit from 1983 until 1994, the year before Ross' death at age 52.</p> <p dir="ltr">In addition to the multi-media exhibit that includes Ross' easel, palette, paint brushes, original paintings and other artifacts, The Bob Ross Experience offers programming that includes painting workshops using the techniques promoted by the beloved instructor.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Bob R