Terra show offers view of America

A nation's sense of itself lies somewhere between the way thingsreally are and the way its citizens would like things to be. Boththose elements are contained in a new show at the Terra Museum ofAmerican Art, 664 N. Michigan.

"Visions of a Nation," which opens this week, looks at the waypainters from the 19th and 20th centuries have depicted Americanlife. The show mostly features paintings and prints from themuseum's collections. The works cover the period from about 1820through the 1980s.

A series of wall quotes will "explore the myths in words, justas the paintings and prints explore them in images," said Debra N.Mancoff, a specialist in 19th century painting, who …