Bob Ross was an American painter, television host, and cultural icon. Ross was the creator and host of the Joy of Painting, a PBS show filmed from a Muncie, Indiana house. The show was wildly successful and ran throughout North America for over a decade.
Bob specialized in a “wet on wet” painting technique that did not require the paint to dry, allowing him to paint quickly. Each of the 403 episodes was meticulously planned out to be achievable by anyone in thirty minutes or less, regardless of talent or experience.
Ross was a twenty-year Air Force veteran and developed an interest in painting after taking an art class at a U.S.O. in Anchorage, Alaska in the 1960s.
Bob was well known for his permed hair and gentle voice as much as he was for his artistic prowess, although neither were native to him. He loathed his hair but realized its marketing power and decided to keep it, even making it a part of his company logo. As for his gentle demeanor, this once Master Sergeant was known for “being the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, make your bed, and who screams at you for being late to morning roll call.”
Ross decided he would not raise his voice after he left the military.
Since the pandemic hit, and nearly a decade after his death, Bob Ross is experiencing a renaissance. He is more popular than ever before. In the past year, he has garnered millions of views on YouTube, had four works purchased by the Smithsonian, had a museum opened in his honor, and according to Google, is the most searched American artist on the internet. His catchphrase of “there are no such thing as mistakes, just happy little accidents” is known and used ubiquitously by young and old alike. To that point, next week, Mountain Dew is sponsoring a national promotion and releasing a “lost” episode of the long-running T.V. show.
But not everyone loved Bob.
Traditionalists scoffed at his seascapes and mocked his endless trees and picture-perfect mountains. Critics say that “real” art can’t be taught from a screen or finished in thirty minutes. Bob responded to those critiques with:
“It’s not traditional art. It’s not fine art, and I don’t try to tell anybody it is.”
To my way of thinking, Bob Ross was the pioneer of distance learning. He built the first model for online fine art instruction, and similar to many of you, did it from home. He taught students in person for years, but saw the television screen as a way to reach a much larger audience.
Bob Ross made art that was accessible and approachable. He empowered, engaged, and gave agency to millions of people. He provided a calm presence and judgment-free space for his students. Dubbed the “Mr. Rogers of the art world,” Bob Ross gave his students the ability to express hope and be positive, even when gloom and doom were abundant.
The same can and should be said for music education. It gives our students hope and positivity when everything around them is dark.
Yes, music is meant to be created with others. But more importantly, it is meant to be shared with others. And Bob Ross taught us, and the latter trumps the former. The need to share music with each other is more important than quality of the performance and the size of the ensemble. Students need to have music in their lives, even if it is via a screen.
This is not how music is meant to be made, but unfortunately, is how it's being made in some places. And while your inner critic may scoff at the quantity of the ensemble and quality of the music, Bob reminds us that it’s not traditional music. It’s not fine music, and you don’t need to convince yourself that it is. But it is music. And with all its flaws and imperfections, Bob would tell us that making music remotely during a pandemic is...
A happy little accident.
Have a great week.
- Scott