What is America’s essence? Have we lived up to our ideals? As such questions roil our political culture, Montana-based artist John Buck explores the concept of America as a work in progress. Renowned for his large-scale woodcuts and wood sculptures, he creates works that are quintessentially American, not only in their emphasis on craftsmanship and clarity of form, but also in their use of images and symbols from American history.

Eleanor Heartney, an art critic, examines this body of work on view at Herron School of Art and Design in "John Buck: Prints and Sculpture from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation" and how it helps us understand that America’s greatest strength is its ability to question, examine the past honestly, and strive to do better.