The first three Bob Ross paintings auctioned to support public broadcasting sold in Los Angeles on Tuesday for a record-shattering $662,000. The rest will go up for auction in various cities throughout 2026. Ross painted many of them live on his PBS show.
About the sale: Bonhams says the works attracted hundreds of registrations, more than twice the usual number for that type of sale. Each sold for more than its estimated worth, led by Winter's Peace, which fetched $318,000 to set a new Ross auction record.
Why now: In October, the nonprofit syndicator American Public Television (APT) announced it would auction off 30 of Ross' paintings to raise money for public broadcasters hit by federal funding cuts. It pledged to direct 100% of its net sales proceeds to APT and PBS stations nationwide.
The first of 30 Bob Ross paintings — many of them created live on the PBS series that made him a household name — have been auctioned off in L.A. to support public television.
Ross, with his distinctive afro, soothing voice and sunny outlook, empowered millions of viewers to make and appreciate art through his show The Joy of Painting. More than 400 half-hour episodes aired on PBS (and eventually the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) from 1983 to 1994, the year before Ross died of cancer at age 52.
Ross' impact lives on: His show still airs on PBS and streams on platforms like Hulu and Twitch. It has surged in popularity in recent years, particularly as viewers searched for comfort during COVID-19 lockdowns. Certified instructors continue teaching his wet-on-wet oil painting technique to the masses, and the Smithsonian acquired several of his works for its permanent collection in 2019. But his artwork rarely goes up for sale — until recently.
In October, the nonprofit syndicator American Public Television (APT) announced it would auction off 30 of Ross' paintings to raise money for public broadcasters hit by federal funding cuts. It pledged to direct 100% of its net sales proceeds to APT and PBS stations nationwide.
Auction house Bonhams is calling it the "largest single offering of Bob Ross original works ever brought to market."
Ross has become synonymous with public broadcasting and some activists have even invoked him in their calls for restoring federal funding to it.
"It's a medium that Bob just cherished," said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross, Inc., in a phone call with NPR. "With the cuts, it's just a natural inclination to support public television."
"Winters Peace," which Ross painted on-air in 1993, was among the first of his works to be auctioned to support public television, in California in November.
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The first three paintings sold in Los Angeles on Tuesday for a record-shattering $662,000. Bonhams says the works attracted hundreds of registrations, more than twice the usual number for that type of sale. Each sold for more than its estimated worth, led by "Winter's Peace,"which fetched $318,000 to set a new Ross auction record.
"As anticipated, these paintings inspired spirited bidding, achieved impressive results and broke global auction records, continuing the momentum we've seen building in [Ross'] market," said Robin Starr, the general manager of Bonhams Skinner, the auction house's Massachusetts branch. "These successes provide a solid foundation as we look ahead to 2026 and prepare to present the next group of Bob Ross works."
"Winter's Peace," which Bob Ross painted on-air in 1993, is among his first three works going up for auction in November. He used especially vibrant colors with his TV audience in mind.
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The next trio of paintings will be auctioned in Massachusetts in late January. The rest will be sold throughout 2026 at Bonham's salerooms in Los Angeles, New York and Boston.
How the offering could benefit public broadcasters
At President Donald Trump's direction, Congress voted in July to claw back $1.1 billion in previously allocated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), leaving the country's roughly 330 PBS and 244 NPR stations in a precarious position.
Demonstrators dressed as Bob Ross at a Chicago protest calling for the restoration of federal funding to PBS in late September.
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"I think he would be very disappointed" about the CPB cuts, Kowalski said of Ross. "I think he would have decided to do exactly what we're doing right now ... I think this would have probably been his idea."
Kowalski, whose parents founded Bob Ross Inc. together with the painter in 1985, said Ross favored positive activism over destructive or empty rhetoric.
"That just was his nature," she said. "He was like that in real life. So I think this would have been exactly the thing that he would have chosen. I suddenly got really emotional thinking about that."
Ross spent about 26 minutes painting "Home in the Valley" on live TV in October 1993. It's been in storage ever since and will go on sale in November.
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The Ross auction aims to help stations pay their licensing fees to the national TV channel Create, which in turn allows them to air popular public television programs including The Best of the Joy of Painting (based on Ross' show), America's Test Kitchen, Rick Steve's Europe and Julia Child's French Chef Classics.
Bonhams says the auction proceeds will help stations — particularly smaller and rural ones — defray the cost burden of licensing fees, making Create available to more of them.
"This enables stations to maintain their educational programming while redirecting funds toward other critical operations and local content production threatened by federal funding cuts," the auction house says.
Ross' paintings rarely hit the market
The 30 paintings going up for sale span Ross' career and are all "previously unseen by the public except during their creation in individual episodes" of The Joy of Painting, according to Bonhams. Many have remained in secure storage ever since.
They include vibrant landscapes, with the serene mountains, lake views and "happy trees" that became his trademark.
Ross started painting during his 20-year career in the Air Force, much of which was spent in Alaska. That experience shaped his penchant for landscapes and ability to work quickly — and, he later said, his desire not to raise his voice once out of the service.
Once on the airwaves, Ross' soft-spoken guidance and gentle demeanor won over millions of viewers. His advice applied to art as well as life: Mistakes are just "happy accidents," talent is a "pursued interest," and it's important to "take a step back and look."
"Ross' gentle teaching style and positive philosophy made him a cultural icon whose influence extends far beyond the art world," Bonhams says.
While Ross was prolific, his paintings were intended for teaching instead of selling, and therefore rarely go on the market.
In August, Bonhams sold two of Ross' early 1990s mountain and lake scenes as part of an online auction of American art. They fetched $114,800 and $95,750, surpassing expectations and setting a new auction world record for Ross at the time. Kowalski says that's when her gears started turning.
"And it just got me to thinking, that's a substantial amount of money," she recalled. "And what if, what if, what if?"
Bonhams officially estimates that the 30 paintings could go for a combined total between $850,000 and $1.4 million. But Starr, of the auction house, predicted in October that they will continue to exceed expectations, based on their artistic value, nostalgia factor and more.
"Now we add in the fact that these are selling to benefit public television, I think the bidding is going to be very happy," she said. "Happy trees, happy bidding."
Disclosure: This story was edited by general assignment editor Carol Ritchie and managing editor Vickie Walton-James. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly. Copyright 2025 NPR
Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Updated February 17, 2026 9:44 PM
Published February 17, 2026 6:19 PM
LAUSD staff estimate that proposed cuts affect less than 1% of the district’s more than 83,000 member workforce.
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A divided Los Angeles Unified School District Board voted 4-3 Tuesday to issue preliminary layoff notices to more than 3,000 employees, as part of a plan to reduce the budget after several years of spending more money than it brings in.
Why now: Even as California is poised to fund schools at record-high levels, Los Angeles Unified and other districts have grappled with increased costs. For example, LAUSD hired more staff to support students during the pandemic, and now the federal relief dollars that initially funded those positions are gone.
Read on ... for more details on the vote and its wide-ranging effects.
A divided Los Angeles Unified School District Board voted 4-3 Tuesday to issue preliminary layoff notices to 657 employees, as part of a plan to reduce the budget after several years of the district spending more money than it brings in.
Even as California is poised to fund schools at record high levels, Los Angeles Unified and other districts have grappled with increased costs. For example, LAUSD hired more staff to support students during the pandemic, and now the federal relief dollars that initially funded those positions are gone. For the last two years, the district has relied on reserves to backfill a multi-billion-dollar deficit.
The “reduction in force” vote is the first step in a monthslong process that could result in layoffs for a still-to-be determined number of positions.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the focus on cutting jobs at the district’s central office was intended to protect schools.
“Does it do it at 100%? No,” Carvalho said. “But this approach reflects the deliberate effort to shield students and frontline educators and support staff from the most severe impacts of this fiscal downturn.”
Notices will go out to 657 positions concentrated in the district’s central office, but which also work at local schools. More than a third of these are IT technicians, by far the largest group.
The plan also calls for reduced hours and pay for several dozen positions.
The board also voted to issue layoff notices to an additional 2,600 contract management employees and certificated administrators as part of a “routine action that’s been taken annually,” said Saman Bravo-Karimi, the district's chief financial officer
What about teachers?
LAUSD said it expects to need 350 fewer elementary and 400 fewer high school teachers next year because of declining enrollment and the closure of some non-classroom positions.
While some educators may be moved from one school to another, the district said it does not plan to issue layoff notices to teachers for the 2026-2027 school year.
The district's decision is based on attrition and the assumption that a new labor agreement will lower high school junior and senior class sizes, requiring more educators.
“This is a calculated risk that the district is taking on in order to maintain the stability at the schools throughout the spring semester,” said Kristen Murphy, associate superintendent of talent and labor relations .
Were deeper cuts considered?
Yes.
Murphy said schools also identified about 800 additional certificated position closures, but that the people in those positions would be moved to different jobs as they became available.
The district is also paying $50-60 million to restore planned cuts to classified positions at school sites.
“We have worked with every possible solution we can think of to reduce that number of initial [layoff] notices and keep as many of our employees as possible,” Murphy said.
How did the board vote?
Yes:
Board Member Sherlett Hendy Newbill (BD-1)
Board President Scott Schmerelson (BD-3)
Board Member Nick Melvoin (BD-4)
Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin (BD-7)
“Every person in our LAUSD community contributed to the academic gains last year,” Schmerelson said. “So whether these RIFs are approved or not we will continue to fight until the very last minute for funding.”
No:
Board Member Rocío Rivas (BD-2)
Board Member Karla Griego (BD-5)
Board Member Kelly Gonez (BD-6)
“I will not accept reductions in force as a default response without a clear discipline showing that this is the most responsible and strategic course available to us,” Rivas said.
Rivas, Gonez and Melvoin are on the ballot in this year’s election.
What do employees say?
Representatives from the unions that represent LAUSD school support staff, teachers and principals asked the board to reconsider the proposed cuts at the start of the meeting and to seek additional funding from the state amid growing revenues from the artificial intelligence industry.
“You can decide to be brave and lead in the state by example and show what a fully functioning school system is,” said SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias.
SEIU Local 99 members, which include classroom aides, IT technicians and gardeners, are currently weighing whether to give their leaders the authority to call a strike. Members of the union that represents LAUSD teachers, psychologists, counselors and nurses voted to authorize a strike last month.
The unions, as well as several board members, called on the district to share more information about contracts with third-party companies before making cuts to staffing.
“This framing is not an honest engagement around budget priorities,” said Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. “It is a tactic used to scare workers and scare our school communities.”
What happens next?
By March 15, layoff notices will go out to the 657 impacted employees as well as employees with less seniority in positions that could be “bumped,” to accommodate the employees in the impacted positions.
The district plans to freeze hiring until it can evaluate whether an employee included in the reduction in force can fill any vacant position.
“The district can’t issue these notices and then hire new people if vacancies come up,” Murphy said.
Staff said the board would vote to finalize any un-rescinded layoff notices in May or June.
Bravo Karimi said additional money-saving strategies included transferring $496 million in reserved funding to the district’s general fund and using $796 million to fund future labor agreements.
LAUSD staff’s report to the board said that even if the board approved the reduction in force notices, more cuts will be necessary to balance the budget in future years.
Find your LAUSD board member
LAUSD board members can amplify concerns from parents, students, and educators. Find your representative below.
Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment and digital equity reporter.
Published February 17, 2026 4:36 PM
About 15% of California households lack access to high-speed internet, according to the latest report from UC Riverside.
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About 15% of California households lack access to high-speed internet, according to the latest report from UC Riverside. Researchers pointed to affordability as one of the biggest barriers to closing the persistent digital divide.
What does the report say? The average monthly cost can range from $70 to $80. And rural communities are even further isolated because of a lack of infrastructure investments from private companies.
Read on … for more on the report’s findings.
About 15% of California households lack access to high-speed internet, according to the latest report from UC Riverside. Researchers pointed to affordability as one of the biggest barriers to closing the persistent digital divide.
Edward Helderop, associate director at UCR’s Center for Geospatial Sciences and report author, told LAist that the findings weren't surprising.
“A lot of American households and California households don't have high-speed internet available at home,” Helderop said. “It's sort of just an unfortunate reality that that's the case for the state of California.”
What does the report say?
Nearly one in seven households in California doesn’t have reliable internet access, according to the report. The biggest barrier continues to be affordability. Even in urban areas, like Los Angeles, where broadband internet is more widely available, the average monthly cost can range from $70 to $80 per month.
But in rural areas, broadband internet is still widely unavailable because of a lack of infrastructure investments from private companies. Only two-thirds of rural households have broadband access at home.
“This digital divide represents not just a technological failure, but a profound barrier to economic opportunity, educational advancement, and civic participation that undermines California’s potential for shared prosperity,” the report states.
Experts also call for mandatory broadband data transparency — internet providers should be required to publicly disclose their service speeds, pricing, reliability metrics and coverage areas.
“Private telecom companies administering the service, they're under no obligation to maintain publicly available data sets in the same way that you might get with other utilities,” Helderop said. “There are issues with the fact that the advertised speeds don't really match up with the actual speeds that people experience at home.”
Researchers also recommend that broadband providers be regulated as utilities, like water and power, monitoring rates, quality and service obligations.
“When we regulate something like a utility, it comes with a few regulations that we take for granted,” Helderop said. “Something like a universal service obligation, in which the utility … their primary motive is to provide universal service, so to provide the service to every household in California.”
As a public utility, officials could ensure that providers are offering the same type of service to every household in the state, as well as regulate rates.
Why it matters
Norma Fernandez, CEO at Everyone On, said access to affordable, high-speed internet is a basic necessity.
"Still, too many families, particularly those in under-resourced communities, predominantly of color, are still left out,” Fernandez said. “Expanding reliable connectivity means addressing affordability, investing in community-centered solutions, and ensuring that digital access is part of every policy conversation."
Digital equity advocates say they see the need from local families every day, but available data doesn’t reflect that.
“On the maps, families appear to live in ‘connected’ neighborhoods, but in reality, they still can’t afford to get online because the monopoly provider’s plans are unaffordable,” Natalie Gonzalez, director at Digital Equity Los Angeles. “The provider-reported broadband maps don’t match what residents experience on the ground, and that gap has real consequences.”
In L.A., for example, hundreds of thousands of households lack reliable internet, but only a fraction qualify for public funding because available data says they’re already served, Gonzalez added.
“Public investment alone doesn’t guarantee equity if the underlying data is flawed,” Gonzalez said. “When the only data regulators have come from the providers themselves, the providers end up defining reality. Communities are then forced to prove they’re disconnected, without access to the same information the companies use to claim coverage.”
Cristal Mojica, digital equity expert at the Michelson Center for Public Policy, said pricing data is intentionally obscured.
“It makes it harder for people to shop around between internet plans,” Mojica told LAist. “It makes it really challenging for our state legislators to be effective and make effective decisions around affordability when they have to try to dig around for that information themselves.”
What’s next?
California has already invested $6 billion for broadband –called the “Middle-Mile” project –through Senate Bill 156. The 2021 law is the largest state investment in broadband in U.S. history to get more people online.
Helderop explained that broadband investments are typically made possible through grants or loans to private telecom companies, making the state’s investment critical.
“It's the first time that any state, or any government in the United States, is taking it upon themselves to build and then own the infrastructure at the end of it,” Helderop said. “I would say that's probably the primary reason that we don't have universal broadband available to households in the United States right now.”
When completed, the “Middle-Mile” project will open markets to new providers and reduce monopolies, Helderop added.
Keep up with LAist.
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Julia Barajas
follows labor conditions across California's higher education system.
Published February 17, 2026 4:31 PM
A union that represents 1,100 plumbers, electricians and other building maintenance staff across the university system is on strike.
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Teamsters Local 2010, which represents trades workers across the Cal State University system, will be on strike through Friday. The union also filed an unfair labor practice charge against the CSU, claiming that the system has refused to honor contractually obligated raises and step increases for its members.
The backstory: According to Teamsters Local 2010, union members won back salary steps in 2024 “after nearly three decades of stagnation.” That year, the union was on the verge of striking alongside the system's faculty, but it reached a last-minute deal with the CSU.
Why it matters: The union represents 1,100 plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, locksmiths and other building maintenance staff. In December 2025, some 94% of workers voted to authorize their bargaining team to call a strike. In a press statement, the union said that “any disruptions to campus operations will be a direct result of CSU’s refusal to pay.”
What the CSU says: In a press statement, the CSU maintains that conditions described in its collective bargaining agreement with the union — which “tied certain salary increases to the receipt of new, unallocated, ongoing state budget funding”— were not met. The system also said it "values its employees and remains committed to fair, competitive pay and benefits for our skilled trades workforce.”
Gillian Morán Pérez
is an associate producer for LAist’s early All Things Considered show.
Published February 17, 2026 4:20 PM
Crystal Hefner (right), widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, and attorney Gloria Allred show court filings during a press conference to announce steps they're taking to protect sexual images and information about women in Hefner's personal scrapbooks and diary in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
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Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s widow, Crystal Hefner, is raising the alarm over her late husband’s foundation collecting about 3,000 of his personal scrapbooks and his diary, which she says contain thousands of nude images of women, some of whom might have been minors at the time the photos were taken.
Why it matters: In a press conference Tuesday, Hefner said in addition to her concerns about some of the women in the scrapbooks being minors, she's worried that the women and possibly girls in the images didn't agree to their images being kept and about what might happen to the women if the images were made public or posted online.
What's next: Hefner said she was told that the scrapbooks may be in a storage facility in California. Her attorney, Gloria Allred, says they were informed that the foundation plans to digitize them, but it’s unclear what it plans to do with them.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s widow, Crystal Hefner, is raising the alarm over her late husband’s foundation collecting about 3,000 of his personal scrapbooks and his diary, which she says contain thousands of nude images of women, some of whom might have been minors at the time the photos were taken.
In a press conference Tuesday, Hefner and her attorney, Gloria Allred, announced they’ve filed regulatory complaints with California and Illinois attorneys general, asking them to investigate the foundation’s handling of the scrapbooks. The complaints were filed to both attorneys general because the foundation is registered to do business in California but incorporated in Illinois.
“I believe they include women and possibly girls who never agreed to lifelong possession of their naked images and who have no transparency into where their photos are, how they’re being stored or what will happen to them next,” Hefner said.
She added the diary includes names of women he slept with, notes of sexual acts and other explicit details.
Hefner said she was asked to resign from her position as CEO and president of the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation on Monday after raising concerns about the materials. She said after she declined to resign, she was removed from her role.
She said she was told the scrapbooks may be in a storage facility in California. Allred says they were informed that the foundation plans to digitize them, but it’s unclear what it plans to do with them.
“This is not archival preservation. This is not history. This is control. I am deeply worried about these images getting out,” Hefner said. “Artificial intelligence, deepfakes, digital scanning, online marketplaces and data breaches means that once images leave secure custody, the harm is irreversible. A single security failure could devastate thousands of lives.”
In addition to asking for an investigation into the foundation’s handling of the materials, it also asks the attorneys general to take appropriate actions to secure those images.
LAist has reached out to the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation for comment.
