Creative Counties Placemaking Initiative
Integrating arts into solutions to local challenges
Author
Patrick Spence
As public funding becomes increasingly strained, counties must search for and employ new strategies to improve their communities and local economies. NACo, in partnership with Americans for the Arts and with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, has launched the Creative Counties Placemaking Initiative to support counties as they work to identify and strengthen ways to integrate arts into solutions to local challenges.
Creative Placemaking Toolkit for Counties
Webinars
NACo's webinars are free to everyone and recorded for viewing after the live event. Recent webinars have included:
- Building Arts-Driven Community and Economic Development Solutions for Your County
- Leveraging New Tools & Resources to Build the Arts in Your County
- Telling Your Community Story: Strengthening Economies through Place Branding
Check out all of NACo's upcoming and past Creative Counties webinars here.
Resource Hubs
- Arts & Economic Prosperity 6
- Arts & Economic Prosperity 5
- Social Impact Explorer
- 2019 Profile of Local Arts Agencies
- Animating Democracy
- Local Arts Agency Dashboard
Reports
- Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 National Statistical Report
- Business Support for the Arts 2021: Art for Everyone's Sake
- Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity
- Building Worlds Together: The Many Functions and Forms of Arts and Community Development
- Programs Supporting Art in the Public Realm: A National Field Scan
- Artists & Communities: Conversations on Passion, Practice, and Engagement
- Animating Democracy--Aesthetic Perspectives
- Animating Democracy--Diving into Racial Equity
- Creative City Report
- Local Arts Agency Partnerships: Types, Components, and Impacts
Fact Sheets
I Love My County Because...
NACo's "I Love My County Because..." art contest bolsters civic education and educates communities around the role of county government. Students grade levels K-12 are invited to submit artwork, with winning entries included in an annual calendar.
Students from all U.S. counties, boroughs and parishes are eligible to enter. Applications for the 2023 contest are due September 29!
Dive Deep
Explore All Arts & Culture Resources
Explore all of NACo's resources on arts and culture, including latest news and resources, related committees and featured initiatives.
County Countdown – August 12, 2024
Every other week, NACo's County Countdown reviews top federal policy advocacy items with an eye towards counties and the intergovernmental partnership.
White House names county finalist for new Recompete Pilot Program funding
On August 5, U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), announced $184 million for six Recompete Pilot Program finalists. The Recompete Program, enacted as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, was created to provide renewed opportunity in economically distressed communities through good-paying, high-quality jobs and improve access to the workforce for Americans.
County Countdown – July 31, 2024
This week's County Countdown features interviews from this year’s NACo Annual Conference.
Public Leadership in the Arts Award goes to Mobile County commissioner
Surrounded by her peers Saturday, July 13, Mobile County, Ala. Commissioner Merceria Ludgood received the Public Leadership in the Arts Award from Americans for the Arts at a reception held at the Tampa Museum of Art during the NACo Annual Conference.
Growing the Early Care and Education Workforce Through Apprenticeships
Early care and education (ECE) providers are often called the workforce behind the workforce because access to child care allows parents to work and further their education and training. However, the ECE field struggles with high rates of turnover and difficulty recruiting new workers because of low wages and poor benefits. Apprenticeships are one strategy to help the ECE workforce pursue additional education and credentials while being compensated and supporting during their learning. Join this webinar to hear how counties are utilizing apprenticeship programs to grow child care supply and strengthen local economies.
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