Arkansas PBS > Programs > Champion Trees
Champion Trees
Escaping the ravages of nature and man, the champion trees of Arkansas are the largest of their species in the state. With lives spanning hundreds of years, these silent sentinels have watched history unfold around them. "Champion Trees" is a one-hour AETN original documentary that explores these natural wonders and how they influence and inspire the people around them. Featured in the documentary are champion trees from throughout Arkansas from Fayetteville to Helena and many points in between. Also featured is Hot Springs artist Linda Palmer who has has spent years photographing and drawing these trees, artfully preserving them for future generations.
In the course of film production, the Champion status of featured trees may have changed. Please visit The Arkansas Forestry Commision for an up to date list of Champion Trees in the state of Arkansas.
Additional funding was provided by Munro Foundation, C. Louis & Mary C. Cabe Foundation, Olds Foundation, The Jane Howard Foundation, Carco International and Mr. and Mrs.Franklin Hawkins
Linda Williams Palmer
Linda Palmer lives with the very inspiration that characterizes her art. Her studio perches among the pines and hardwoods of the Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Linda's love of the Ozark woodlands makes itself apparent in her delicate renderings of streams, slate rocks, colorful wildflowers, and most of all, the magnificent trees that cover this landscape.
An experienced Arkansas artist, Palmer opened her first art studio and gallery in Ft. Smith in 1985 and currently maintains her studio and gallery in Hot Springs: the Linda Palmer Gallery, 800 Central Avenue, Hot Springs National Park. Awarded "Signature Status" in 2006 by the Colored Pencil Society of America, Palmer’s work has been selected for numerous juried exhibitions and collections across the country and in Europe.
Palmer is currently touring her exhibit, Arkansas Champion Trees: an Artist’s Journey. Palmer developed this new series of work over a period of 5 years, driving approximately 7,000 miles to document and artistically interpret selected Arkansas Champion Trees.
