2023

Counterpublic 2023 engaged the complex histories, charged present, and many possible futures of St. Louis. The 2023 edition brought together over thirty leading and emergent artists, architects, collectives, and community organizers to reimagine civic infrastructures toward generational change.

Following a year-long process of community engagement in which over 800 neighbors in St. Louis were invited to reflect upon the most urgent needs facing their communities, Counterpublic determined to focus its 2023 edition on public memory and reparative futures–how our history is told, held, and healed, and how our future is envisioned collectively toward new liberated lifeways.

Free art installations, performances, screenings, conversations, and parties animated the six miles length of Jefferson Avenue with art and stories. Artworks were placed in public parks, gardens, historic houses, and museums around St. Louis, including focus areas around Sugarloaf Mound, Mill Creek Valley, and the St. Louis Place neighborhood.

The exhibition was organized by the curatorial ensemble of Allison Glenn, Diya Vij, New Red Order and Risa Puleo alongside Artistic Director James McAnally and Assistant Curator Katherine Simóne Reynolds.