The discussion of this dialog between artist and audience, the “horizontal dialog” advocated by many socially engaged artists who care about education, reminded me very much of a show that I have personally watched many times, which aired originally between 1983 and 1994 – Bob Ross’ “The Joy of Painting.” This show had very good communication between teacher and student – despite the viewer not actually being able to talk to him, watching Bob Ross paint makes me feel like I am in the room with him and the way he explains what he is doing at all times is very easy to understand and also inspiring. He makes complex paintings look utterly simple. Viewers could easily interact with the program by following along with Ross’ paintings, making this horizontal dialog between him and his viewers more evident. Furthermore, the program was littered with inspirational quotes that were simply ad-libbed by Ross. One of the most famous of these is “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” Thus, not only did the viewer feel he or she was learning about painting – Ross was also giving life lessons that the viewer could take and apply to any part of his or her life. It was amazing how Bob Ross was able to turn a little instructional painting segment on public television into one of the most beloved shows of all times, and this is all due to these methods of engaging with his viewers.