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About the cover

Lead Pencil Studio's Non-Sign II, 2010, is a permanent installation at the U.S.-Canada border in Blaine, Washington, commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration. The artwork references the freeway signage that is common along interstates. The negative space of the sign is rendered by using a filigree of welded stainless rod; the result frames a view of the open sky. Photo courtesy of Lead Pencil Studio

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About this Issue

Everybody has to start somewhere. Before Toni Morrison wrote her way into the Nobel Prize in Literature, before Merce Cunningham indelibly transformed modern dance, before Miles Davis sent jazz careening in a whole new direction, before Meryl Streep became, well, Meryl Streep, each of these iconic artists was an up-and-comer. Each was practicing his or her craft relentlessly -- sometimes to the sounds of applause, sometimes in obscurity -- hoping to arrive at some version of "having made it." In this issue we will look at up-and-comers who are establishing themselves in film, dance, design, music, and visual arts.

Join us at arts.gov as well to find web-only stories, such as an Art Works podcast on Youngblood, Ensemble Studio Theatre's collective of emerging professional playwrights, and a video exploring how some practicing artists got their start. Also, visit our Art Works blog to comment on this issue or to share information on arts in your community.