About Our Partnership
Building on The Griot Museum of Black History’s legacy of twenty five years of leadership in St. Louis, Counterpublic has worked closely with The Griot as a primary partner through a range of public programming, permanent public art initiatives, and a multi-year fellowship program.
The Griot is one of the most important cultural spaces in the St. Louis region, and a beacon within the wider Midwest, through its wide-ranging exhibitions and public programs, musical events and neighborhood meetings, and deep archives focused on intersections with St. Louis history. The museum tells the story of Black folkways with a uniquely regional lens that allows visitors to understand this city’s complex histories, while prompting wider efforts for organizing in the present and future-making through its programs and public engagement efforts.
Over the period of our partnership, Counterpublic has supported The Griot to make major leaps forward through an expansion of the museum into a public-facing campus with permanent artworks, including the rammed earth sculpture Asaase III and Steffani Jemison’s functioning penny press Untitled (Press) a functional penny press with fragments of lyrics invoking freedom sung by Josephine Baker (“sky is the only / roof I’ve ever had”) that pays homage to these lost histories by producing symbolic and real tokens of change and exchange.
Additional components of the partnership have included the launch of a multi-year full-time fellowship at The Griot led by Counterpublic and funded by the Mellon Foundation, as well as comprehensive site support, landscaping, lighting, and conservation assistance.