1986 Buck Creek Festival
The Bob Ross Experience
Remember The Joy of Painting on PBS? Bob Ross was the show’s star and artist who painted happy little trees with a two-inch paint brush, sporting his trademark frizzy Afro, and a voice that calmed and relaxed. We loved Bob Ross!
The show was filmed in nearby Muncie, Indiana beginning in 1983. The historic Lucius L. Ball home served as the production studio for Channel 49 (WIPB) at the time and is where Bob filmed the show. The mansion sits on the Minnetrista Cultural Center campus and has been remodeled to accommodate the Bob Ross Experience. The exhibit is all about Bob Ross . It houses a re-created studio, artifacts, shows, and even painting workshops. Get more information and tickets here.
Local connection: Bob was a friend of Marilyn Arthur McAlister who owned Painted Memories in Yorktown. I painted with Marilyn for a few years until I moved too far away to continue. I recall that Bob visited Marilyn at the studio in Yorktown when he was in town. He may also have led seminars at her studio well before that. Before he began filming The Joy of Painting, Bob made a living teaching painting seminars around the country, first for Bill Alexander and later as part of his own company. Bill Alexander taught Bob how to use the wet-on-wet painting method that allowed the oil paints to move easily across the surface of the canvas and pickup the colors underneath. “Happy accidents” were born. And, of course, happy little trees who always came with friends. Bob seemed a friend and inspiration to us all.
Bob Ross died in 1995 at age 52 from lymphoma. His show is still in syndication on PBS. Please tell us about your experiences with Bob Ross and how he inspired you to lift a paint brush or take a nap with his calming voice in the background.
Exhibit: The Bob Ross Experience
Entry and Hours:
Local Residents
$8 per person for local residents
$6 per kid ages 12 and under (3 & under are free)
Non-Residents
$15 per person for all non-residents
$12 per kid ages 12 and under (3 & under are free)
Members of Minnetrista
Free
Monday & Tuesday Closed
Wednesday–Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday Noon–5 p.m.
Minnetrista Cultural Center
1200 N. Minnetrista Parkway
Muncie, IN 47303
(765) 282-4848
info@minnetrista.net
1951 Class Trip to Washington
Posted by Larry Broadwater FaceBook 19 Feb 2020
1951 Let the Adventure Begin! Waiting to leave on the class trip to Washington, DC is Joanne Thompson, Nancy Antrim, Cuba Mathews, and Janet Rees. This photo was taken at the old high school downtown on the corners of Walnut and Arch Streets behind the Methodist Church (which was on High St.) A new high school was opened on Smith St. where the current Yorktown Middle School is located (2020). As pointed out by Kay Ross Miller, you can see the Methodist Church in the background. Becky Sears Monroe gives the date of the church fire as 24 December 1950. Mary Brown Gustin says that she went the next year and that the class too the bus to Cincinnati where they caught a train to Washington, DC.
Women Behaving Badly: Political Prowess–March 31, 2020
March 31, 2020
Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 232-1882
Click HERE for Event Tickets
Indiana’s history is full of renegade ladies who were bold, gutsy, and fascinating. We’re back again to raise a glass to a new crop of revolutionary ladies whose political prowess changed the Hoosier state, including:
- The hatchet-wielding activist who called for Indiana’s first women’s rights convention
- The local lawyer who won litigation that allowed all women to join the bar
- The suffragists who showed their displeasure at their male adversaries by staging a melodrama
At Women Behaving Badly, you’ll weave your way through the History center to meet these and other audacious advocates while enjoying themed snacks and local libations.
$22 | $18 | $25 Day of. Tickets include light refreshments and one drink ticket. Additional drinks available for purchase.
Photo: A Woman Behaving Badly (and “Goodly”): First Lady Lou Henry Hoover. She earned a BA in geology at Stanford, she translated a 1565 metallurgy work from Latin, she traveled the world, supported Girl Scouts and spoke Mandarin. (US Archives)
Pioneer Cemetery Preservation
The Pioneer Cemetery Preservation Committee is a group of volunteers dedicated to the preservation of Delaware County’s abandoned, lost, and forgotten cemeteries in which many of our ancestors and pioneer families lie buried.
The group is non-funded, working solely from donations. They are happy to teach anyone who is interested in the best ways of cleaning and repairing the beautiful old markers of our pioneer forefathers.
The Cemetery Committee conducts a business meeting on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 PM at the Delaware County Historical Society, 120 East Washington St., Muncie, IN 47305. The Committee also schedules workdays on most Saturday mornings. Anyone interested in learning more about the committee may email to: DCHSPCPC@gmail.com (Bob Good) for more information. Please check in advance before going to a meeting to ensure that it is still on for that day.
Making the Modern Kitchen
October 5 2019 - Feb 16 2020
Hoosier Innovation
Making the Modern Kitchen
Following East Central Indiana’s gas boom, the Hoosier cabinet, an innovative free-standing piece of kitchen furniture, emerged as one of the most iconic products of the region’s booming industry. Created around 1900, the Hoosier not only revolutionized the home kitchen, but also left its mark on the region, state, and nation for decades to come. Hoosier Innovation considers the story of this influential product and the companies that made it. Take a walk through the gas boom and into daily factory life. Explore the effects of regional industry and the modernization of the American kitchen. Peer in on a slice of history and experience the stories of the men and women caught up in its wake.