National Association of Counties

Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge

  • Basic page

    Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge

     

    Overview

    As public funding becomes increasingly strained, counties must search for and employ new strategies to improve their communities and make healthier, more equitable places for residents to live, work and play. The Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge invites counties with populations of less than 150,000 to form multidisciplinary teams to compete in a challenge competition to identify and strengthen ways to integrate arts into solutions to local challenges. Teams that submit winning applications will attend an in-person, one-day training and peer exchange workshop in July 2022, in Adams County, Colorado, in conjunction with NACo’s Annual Conference.

     

    Program Information

    Q Who should apply?
    A

    Counties with populations of less than 150,000—or county/local arts agencies located within counties with populations of less than 150,000—who are looking to address unique local challenges and bolster their ability to grow their economies and resilience by employing the arts as core to the solution. Note: Counties or county/local arts agencies must form multidisciplinary teams to apply. If a county does not have an official arts agency, a local arts nexus organization can apply. Multi-jurisdictional teams are permitted.
    Q Are there any requirements for the teams?
    A

    Yes. Teams must:

    • Consist of at least one county official, one representative from the local arts community and one representative from the sector they wish to engage (i.e., mental health, veterans affairs, youth services, addiction, marginalized communities, economic opportunity, etc.)
    • Have no more than four and no less than three members and must have good cross-sector representation. A maximum of two representatives from a given organization may participate on the same team.
    • Teams members must commit to participate in the Challenge Kickoff webinar and be proactively involved with their mentor via regular communications (phone and email) for the duration of the project, March 2022 to January 2023. At least one team member must attend the in-person, one-day July 2022 workshop.
    Q Are teams encouraged to do anything?
    A

    Yes. Teams are encouraged to:

    • Include working artist(s) on their team.
    • Think about using creativity in unique ways that tackle public good needs beyond the arts and culture sphere. For example, an application that has the goal to create a local arts agency, while important, does not fit the spirit of this program.  But rather, for example, consider how to use the arts and culture to intervene in the opioid epidemic, or how to use the arts and culture to help with fair housing initiatives.
    • Apply if they are from smaller counties (under 50,000).
    • Evaluate their proposal to make sure it is appropriate in scope to the available resources.
    Q Does a county or county/local arts agency need to be a NACo or Americans for the Arts member to apply?
    A

    No, counties or county/local arts agencies do not need to be members of NACo or Americans for the Arts respectively to apply for the Placemaking Challenge.
    Q Where can I find examples of creative placemaking projects?
    A

    The National Endowment for the Arts has a great website called Exploring Our Town that highlights case study examples of successful creative placemaking projects here: Exploring Our Town | National Endowment for the Arts. You can explore NEA guidance on creative placemaking through the arts here: Creative Placemaking | National Endowment for the Arts.
    Q Is there an application fee?
    A

    No.
    Q How will applications be evaluated?
    A

    Applications will be evaluated and weighted based on:

    • Strength of the proposed partnership.
    • History of past creative, cross-sector partnership experiences from each team member. These past partnerships do not have to have been with each other. We are interested in team members experiences with collaboration, not just your history with each other.
    • Clarity of issue to be addressed by the team.
    • A clear commitment to process and discovery and the ability as a team to develop and follow through on a plan.
    • Vulnerabilities in the community, including economic hardship and limited access to resouces.
    • Assets and opportunities in the community that support integration of arts to addressing community priorities.
    • Quality and appropriateness of the team members to tackle the specific concerns being addressed.
    Q Who will review the applications?
    A

    NACo and Americans for the Arts project staff will screen each application to ensure the key eligibility criteria are met, and a panel with issue-area and creative expertise will review applications. Final selections will take into account geographic and policy-focus diversity.
    Q Will selected teams receive funding?
    A

    No, selected counties/regions will not receive a direct financial award.
    Q What will teams receive?
    A

    Teams will be invited – and the team's Main Point of Contact expected – to attend the national team-based workshop in July 2022, and will receive pre- and post-workshop technical support and mentoring, via virtual webinars and individual team conference calls.
    Q Will selected teams need to pay a registration fee to attend the workshop?
    A

    No.
    Q Will there be travel funds for selected teams to attend the workshop?
    A

    Yes, NACo has limited funding available to partially offset team travel costs.
    Q What costs should teams anticipate to attend the workshop?
    A

    NACo has a limited budget to offset some transportation and lodging costs to attend the workshop. Teams should expect to cover a portion of their transportation/lodging costs.
    Q Will meals be provided at the workshop?
    A

    NACo will provide breakfast and lunch for each of the two full days of each workshop. Teams will be on their own for dinners.

     

    Questions?

    If you have any questions about the application, eligibility or proposed project ideas, please contact CreativeCounties@naco.org.

     

    The Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge invites counties with populations of less than 150,000 to form multidisciplinary teams to compete in a challenge competition to identify and strengthen ways to integrate arts into solutions to local challenges. 
    2017-08-24
    Basic page
    2022-04-14

 

Overview

As public funding becomes increasingly strained, counties must search for and employ new strategies to improve their communities and make healthier, more equitable places for residents to live, work and play. The Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge invites counties with populations of less than 150,000 to form multidisciplinary teams to compete in a challenge competition to identify and strengthen ways to integrate arts into solutions to local challenges. Teams that submit winning applications will attend an in-person, one-day training and peer exchange workshop in July 2022, in Adams County, Colorado, in conjunction with NACo’s Annual Conference.

 

Program Information

Q Who should apply?
A

Counties with populations of less than 150,000—or county/local arts agencies located within counties with populations of less than 150,000—who are looking to address unique local challenges and bolster their ability to grow their economies and resilience by employing the arts as core to the solution. Note: Counties or county/local arts agencies must form multidisciplinary teams to apply. If a county does not have an official arts agency, a local arts nexus organization can apply. Multi-jurisdictional teams are permitted.
Q Are there any requirements for the teams?
A

Yes. Teams must:

  • Consist of at least one county official, one representative from the local arts community and one representative from the sector they wish to engage (i.e., mental health, veterans affairs, youth services, addiction, marginalized communities, economic opportunity, etc.)
  • Have no more than four and no less than three members and must have good cross-sector representation. A maximum of two representatives from a given organization may participate on the same team.
  • Teams members must commit to participate in the Challenge Kickoff webinar and be proactively involved with their mentor via regular communications (phone and email) for the duration of the project, March 2022 to January 2023. At least one team member must attend the in-person, one-day July 2022 workshop.
Q Are teams encouraged to do anything?
A

Yes. Teams are encouraged to:

  • Include working artist(s) on their team.
  • Think about using creativity in unique ways that tackle public good needs beyond the arts and culture sphere. For example, an application that has the goal to create a local arts agency, while important, does not fit the spirit of this program.  But rather, for example, consider how to use the arts and culture to intervene in the opioid epidemic, or how to use the arts and culture to help with fair housing initiatives.
  • Apply if they are from smaller counties (under 50,000).
  • Evaluate their proposal to make sure it is appropriate in scope to the available resources.
Q Does a county or county/local arts agency need to be a NACo or Americans for the Arts member to apply?
A

No, counties or county/local arts agencies do not need to be members of NACo or Americans for the Arts respectively to apply for the Placemaking Challenge.
Q Where can I find examples of creative placemaking projects?
A

The National Endowment for the Arts has a great website called Exploring Our Town that highlights case study examples of successful creative placemaking projects here: Exploring Our Town | National Endowment for the Arts. You can explore NEA guidance on creative placemaking through the arts here: Creative Placemaking | National Endowment for the Arts.
Q Is there an application fee?
A

No.
Q How will applications be evaluated?
A

Applications will be evaluated and weighted based on:

  • Strength of the proposed partnership.
  • History of past creative, cross-sector partnership experiences from each team member. These past partnerships do not have to have been with each other. We are interested in team members experiences with collaboration, not just your history with each other.
  • Clarity of issue to be addressed by the team.
  • A clear commitment to process and discovery and the ability as a team to develop and follow through on a plan.
  • Vulnerabilities in the community, including economic hardship and limited access to resouces.
  • Assets and opportunities in the community that support integration of arts to addressing community priorities.
  • Quality and appropriateness of the team members to tackle the specific concerns being addressed.
Q Who will review the applications?
A

NACo and Americans for the Arts project staff will screen each application to ensure the key eligibility criteria are met, and a panel with issue-area and creative expertise will review applications. Final selections will take into account geographic and policy-focus diversity.
Q Will selected teams receive funding?
A

No, selected counties/regions will not receive a direct financial award.
Q What will teams receive?
A

Teams will be invited – and the team's Main Point of Contact expected – to attend the national team-based workshop in July 2022, and will receive pre- and post-workshop technical support and mentoring, via virtual webinars and individual team conference calls.
Q Will selected teams need to pay a registration fee to attend the workshop?
A

No.
Q Will there be travel funds for selected teams to attend the workshop?
A

Yes, NACo has limited funding available to partially offset team travel costs.
Q What costs should teams anticipate to attend the workshop?
A

NACo has a limited budget to offset some transportation and lodging costs to attend the workshop. Teams should expect to cover a portion of their transportation/lodging costs.
Q Will meals be provided at the workshop?
A

NACo will provide breakfast and lunch for each of the two full days of each workshop. Teams will be on their own for dinners.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions about the application, eligibility or proposed project ideas, please contact CreativeCounties@naco.org.