It can be argued that creation is the highest form of free expression.

That's why as we celebrate our nation's independence on July 4 we have decided to turn these pages of the Weekly into a gallery of visual art, political discontent and poetry by local artists.

Unfortunately, not all Americans support artists and their missions.

There is always someone to discourage art containing powerful social and political messages, or to tell us to censor what we would choose to see and hear. In today's America, some books are still banned and some art boycotted.

Beyond opposition, there is also neglect. As we spend billions on war, it seems there's just never enough money left over to keep arts and arts education programs going.

The artists featured on these pages don't get big money for what they do, don't enjoy popular support and often have to fight to get their work noticed.

They create to satisfy something within them, to be free to be who they are.

What follows is a glimpse of some of the all-too-often unrecognized talent living -- creating -- right in our own backyard.