The Bob Ross Experience at Muncie’s Minnetrista Museum & Gardens explores the life, philosophy and art of the iconic American Painter.
By: Kevin Vickery
I am embarrassed to admit that until recently, I had never explored the 40 acre gardens, museums, and trails of Minnetrasta, located at 1200 Minnetrasta Parkway, in the center of Muncie, along the White River, just a stone’s throw from the Ball State campus. I really have no good excuse for waiting so long to go especially given that I am a Ball State Alumni and lived in Muncie for the better part of four years.
The facility which opened in December of 1988 as the vision of Margaret Ball Petty and cousin, Edmund Ball who along with the Ball Brothers Foundation provided a museum in which to exhibit fine art. The Ball family’s legacy has been a rich part of Muncie’s history since moving their glass manufacturing business, famous for Ball canning jars to the city in 1887. The family left a lasting impression on Muncie with such philanthropic organizations as Ball Brothers Foundation, and George & Frances Ball Foundation as well as my beloved Alma mater, Ball State University.
The Minnetrista Museum & Garden, originally know as Minnetrista Cultural Center is currently located on the land where the Ball family once lived. Many of their homes are still there today and are open to the public for various programs, tours and special events.
The Bob Ross Experience takes visitors inside the Lucious L Ball home where his iconic PBS television program, “The Joy of Painting” was originally filmed. The immersive exhibition features original paintings and artifacts, inspiring guests with Bob’s message of fearless creativity. You can step into the restored television studio and stand where Bob stood, at the iconic easel where he “beat the devil” out of his brushes.
Upstairs from the Experience, there is a gallery where visitors can enjoy more original Ross artwork, with shows specially curated to highlight a specific theme or aspect of Bob’s work. The current feature is, “The Joy of Painting – Series 15”. This is a unique opportunity to check out that season’s paintings up close. These pieces represent Bob’s signature style as they are reunited in the building where they were created for the first time in over 30 years.
Series 15 was the last filmed by WIPB in the historic home, where its episodes were distributed to nearly 300 PBS stations nationwide. In 1989, given the wake of WIPB’s success, the station upgraded their operations to a modern TV studio in the Ball Communication Building (now part of a communications complex including the David Letterman Communication and Media Building) on the nearby Ball State University campus where the show remained until it ended in 1994. Sadly Bob Ross died in 1995 at the age of 52 due to complications from Lymphoma.
Also upstairs from The Experience is a studio where art enthusiasts can attend a workshop taught by one of the experienced Ross Certified Instructors. These workshops must be booked in advance and offer a unique opportunity to get creative and learn the process of painting in Bob Ross’ style including his signature, “wet on wet” technique in the very same building where the paintings from “The Joy of Painting” were created and filmed.
Personally, I’ve never fancied myself as much of an artist but having grown up watching his show, I’m would still consider myself a Bob Ross fan. I’ve always enjoyed the way his gentle, soothing voice mixed with the subtle sounds of his painting knives and brushes scraping the canvas created such a peaceful auditory expression which served as a perfect foreground to his beautiful landscapes being brought to life so quickly and skillfully.
The way he spoke and more specifically, what he said to the viewer always made me feel like he was speaking directly to me when offering his words of wisdom like:
“No pressure. Just relax and watch it happen.”
“You need the dark in order to show the light.”
“If you do too much, it’s going to lose its effectiveness.”
“You can do anything you want to do. This is your world.”
And everyone’s favorite, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy accidents.”
So many of the things he said were equally valuable as life lessons as they were about painting techniques.
The proverbial apple hasn’t fallen far from the “happy little tree” as my 10 year old daughter, Delia also likes watching the old episodes of Ross’ “The Joy of Painting” and since they’re all available on the PBS app, we frequently zone out to it together. We were recently in Muncie to support her classmate competing in the 2025 Regional Spelling Bee on the Ball State Campus, and when I reminded her of the nearby Bob Ross Experience, she responded with an enthusiastic, “I WANNA GO! Can we PLEASE!
So, of course we went and were very glad that we did. We both enjoyed the studio recreation as well as viewing the paintings in the gallery. Delia was disappointed that the workshops are for ages 14 and older but said that, “It was really cool to see the paintings in real life that we’ve watched him paint on the TV show”. She also asked me, “Is it possible to buy Bob Ross’ paintings so you can hang them in your house?”. I answered after a quick Google search informed me that the price range of his standard sized 18” x 24”canvas paintings is typically $25,000 to $65,000 but have sold for as high as 10 million. His painting’ “Gray Mountain” from, “The Joy of Painting”, season 24, episode #1 is currently listed on eBay for the bargain price of $650,000. Fortunately for me she was happy with a “Be like Bob” t-shirt for $17.00 from The Orchard Shop at Minnetrista which features many officially licensed Bob Ross items as well as a host of other gifts from local artisans.
Our time at Minnetrista Museum & Gardens also featured a tour of the beautiful George and Frances Ball home which was included with the purchase of tickets for The Bob Ross Experience. This interactive, hands-on tour celebrates that family’s passions, by encouraging visitors to read books from the shelves of their large library, play games together from the selection of board games, and learn more about home food preservation in the kitchen where the Ball Blue Book was created. We also spent time exploring the walking paths through the extensive gardens outside the home.
I wanted to get an actual artist’s take on The Bob Ross Experience so I spoke with my longtime friend and frequent musical collaborator, Michael Crider who had recently made the trip from Nashville, TN to take in the exhibit while he was here visiting family. Mike who is an extremely talented singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has in recent years added oil painting to his long list of artistic skills. He said that he loved the experience and added, “Bob’s gift to the world was not only his art, but his ability to make his viewers believe that they can create their own masterpieces without limitation. Watching his old shows really had an impact on me and made me fall in love with painting.”
I agree with Mike’s take on Bob and would highly recommend taking the time to visit The Bob Ross Experience as well as exploring all that Minnetrista Museum & Gardens has to offer. It’s a place where visitors can find a moment outside of their everyday routine where discovery, imagination, and learning are core. Their mission, “to foster a love of learning across generations and engage the community through the beauty of nature, the richness of art, and the heritage of East Central Indiana” is clearly visible throughout the site and I am sure the founding members of the Ball family would be proud of their legacy’s preservation through all that is being accomplished there.
Access to Minnetrista’s many gardens, the Nature Area, and the White River Greenway are free for all to enjoy, however The Bob Ross Experience does require a ticket purchase that also includes touring the George & Frances Ball home. Discounts are offered on tickets for local residents (all surrounding counties including Henry are considered local) so discounted adult tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for kids age 12 and under making it an affordable way to spend the day with family friends or even by yourself. If you’re craving a day of peace and reflection in an educational and tranquil environment, plan your trip accordingly and you can really make a day of it.
So do yourself a favor and go check it out. Maybe like me, you’ll enjoy the experience of trying something different for a change. It’s like Bob says, “Let’s get crazy. What the heck?”
For more information about The Bob Ross Experience as well as other events and attractions at Minnetrista Museum & Gardens find them on Facebook and Instagram or visit minnetrista.net.
To purchase officially licensed Bob Ross art supplies, apparel and other merchandise go to bobross.com.
To watch past episodes of “The Joy of Painting” with Bob Ross find your local PBS station through the PBS app or at pbs.org.
Make Some Noise 