Engaging Artists, Building Community: A Meeting of the NACo Arts and Culture Commission

Yolanda Smith Charles has championed a small municipality in her Oakland County, Mich. district that has been dismantled as others grow.

A songwriter and a nonfiction author shared their techniques for telling memorable stories at the County Storyteller Symposium in early December.

A multi-year project restored the historic courthouse to its original design after mid-century compromises, making the county's centerpiece more inviting and evocative of the community's aspirations.