America's Best Idea

"The National Parks: America's Best Idea" is a six-episode series directed by renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and written and co-produced by historian Dayton Duncan. It premieres on PBS stations each evening from September 27th through October 2nd.

Filmed over the course of more than six years in some of nature's most spectacular locales, America's Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background — rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy. It is a story full of struggle and conflict, high ideals and crass opportunism, stirring adventure and enduring inspiration — set against the most breathtaking backdrops imaginable.

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T. Potter

Waiting outside an adobe

Wanted: Theresa Potter Paintings

Artist and painter Theresa Potter created a series of 15 detailed paintings portraying individuals on the Anza expedition. These paintings have disappeared from the public record and may be in private hands.

                                              The National Park Service has been searching for these paintings for years with leads and rumored sightings in Phoenix, Tucson, Denver and Santa Barbara, all of which turned out to be dead ends. Their last known location was for a one month show at a gallery in Nogales, Arizona, in 1979, and were sent from there to a Scottsdale art dealer. After the death of Theresa Potter in the mid-1980s, the paintings may have been returned to her family.

Theresa Potter was a painter reknowned for her detailed personality studies of individuals.

If found, the National Park Service's interest in the paintings is to make high resolution scans of the images for educational uses, not to take possession of the artwork.

If you know the whereabouts of her artwork, please contact us. See below for two samples of her color paintings.