INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Office of Tourism Development is doing its part to help keep the memory alive of famed TV host and artist Bob Ross. The award is part of a $470,000 Destination Development Grant.

The Indiana Tourism Council, as part of the IOTD, has awarded a $250,000 grant to the Muncie-based Minnetrista Cultural Foundation. The foundation is creating a permanent exhibit to honor the former host of the PBS television show “The Joy of Painting.”

Ross died in 1995, but the show lives-on in reruns.

The foundation is raising funds to develop the Bob Ross Experience at the historic L.L. Ball home on Minnestrista’s campus. The organization wants to create a museum exhibit to showcase Ross’ work by creating an “immersive” experience for visitors.

Leaders of Minnetrista want to recreate his painting studio inside the historic L.L. Ball home. The how-to painting show was filmed for several years at the Ball home.

The council also awarded the Evansville Zoological Society with a $162,000 grant for Mesker Park Zoo. The zoo intends to create Indiana’s first Humboldt penguin habitat which it thinks we’ll be a big draw for tourists.

The Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau received approximately $58,000 in matching grants for the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course.  The money will be put towards the construction of a medical building and other safety improvements used during races.