With recent cuts in federal funding for public media, the estate of the late painter Bob Ross is fighting to save the platforms that championed his work.
Bob Ross Inc. is auctioning off 30 paintings of the beloved television personality, many created on-air before his death at age 52 in 1995, using the proceeds to offset programming costs at public television stations amid defunding.
Noting that Ross “dedicated his life to making art accessible to all,” his former business partner and current president of Bob Ross Inc., Joan Kowalski, told the Associated Press: “This auction ensures that his legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades.” »
Three of Ross’s paintings will be auctioned on November 11 at Bonhams in Los Angeles, with more to follow in London, New York, Boston and online. Profits are promised to American public television networks to help them pay the licensing fees that allow them to broadcast recurring programs.
Bonhams estimates the total value of the upcoming haul at between $850,000 and $1.4 million.
In July, the House cleared Trump’s package of spending cuts aimed at cutting $1.1 billion from public media, despite warnings that the funding cuts would devastate the ecosystem of PBS, NPR and public stations.
Since the law’s passage, the Public Broadcasting Corporation has closed its doors and PBS has cut its budget by 21 percent, laying off 34 employees last month. PBS CEO Paula Kerger expressed hope that federal funding would be restored in the next fiscal year.
Ross was an American painting teacher who created and hosted the educational program The joy of paintingbroadcast from 1983 to 1994 on PBS. He created around 30,000 paintings during his life.
