Art can be more than “just art.” It can help counties handle recovery in a variety of ways, according to Larry Nelson, Waukesha County, Wis. supervisor and chair of the National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Arts and Culture Commission.

“It’s what we call ‘arts and’— so ‘arts and the environment, arts and economic development, arts and community cohesion,’” Nelson said when the group’s members heard from three different counties about their experiences with the arts.

Three examples of counties utilizing the arts to solve local challenges are Hawaii County, Hawaii in its pursuit of “regenerative tourism,” Potter County, Pa. attempting to attract young people to the rural area and Greenbrier County, W.Va. in its efforts to tackle the opioid crisis. 

All participated in NACo’s Creative Counties Placemaking Challenge in partnership with Americans for the Arts, which tasked counties with populations of less than 150,000 to use the arts to solve a problem.