Americans for the Arts is launching a new phase of work for Animating Democracy to promote best practices and build field capacity for arts-based civic engagement. The four year Animating Democracy Lab provided evidence of the contributions the arts can make to civic dialogue and also pointed to the vital role local arts agencies (LAAs) can play in fostering arts-based civic engagement. This Monograph tells the story of the Arts Council of Greater Lima (Ohio), which harnessed the power of the arts to prompt civic action, and highlights best practices culled from the experiences of 37 arts and humanities projects. It suggests roles and actions for LAAs and offers practical resources for planning arts-based civic dialogue events.