Creative Counties Placemaking Initiative
Integrating arts into solutions to local challenges
Developed in partnership with Americans for the Arts and with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Counties Placemaking Initiative equips county leaders with tools and resources to identify and strengthen ways to integrate the 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
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.
Counties get creative with land use to add affordable housing
Orange County, Fla. is working to develop affordable housing on land owned by religious institutions and Fairfax County, Va. is exploring co-locating its libraries with affordable housing.
Housing shortage seeds planted years ago
The United States did not wind up with a housing shortage overnight - several factors have played into the conditions that have created the current market.
County invests in emerging developers to ease housing crunch
Shelby County, Tenn. offered instruction, connections and mentorship to budding real estate developers to bring fresh ideas and approaches to the market.
County-backed loan fund unlocks thousands of affordable housing units
Montgomery County, Md. is using a $100 million revolving loan fund to develop more than 3,000 affordable housing units across the county.
Housing shortages limit community building in rural counties
When counties' housing markets price out workers, they lose a population that participates in civic live, volunteerism and community building.
2026 NACo Energy Symposium
Join county leaders from across the country in the Texas Panhandle to engage with the most pressing energy issues shaping rural America today. Hear from experts, exchange ideas with peers and gain practical insights into the policies, projects and partnerships driving rural energy development.
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