International Institute of St. Louis

The International Institute of St. Louis provides opportunities for immigrants and refugees to thrive in order to create a welcoming, prosperous, and healthy region for all. IISTL envisions a welcoming, prosperous, and healthy St. Louis region for every individual in our community. To achieve this vision, IISTL creates opportunities for the immigrant and refugee community in St. Louis to achieve its greatest potential. These opportunities span all facets of life: family, health, community, career, culture, and much more. When our neighbors thrive, our region thrives, and when our region prospers, we have even more chances to prosper.

IISTL offers a variety of services for 7,500 new Americans from 75 countries each year. Their excellent team helps refugees, immigrants and their families become productive Americans and champion ethnic diversity as a cultural and economic strength. With the help of the Institute, many newcomers can achieve independence and make valuable contributions to the St. Louis community.

Deepening its ties with the vital organization that serves immigrant and refugee communities in the region, Counterpublic’s new cross-organizational partnership will establish a two-year Community Engagement Fellowship in advance of the 2026 triennial, of which the IISTL campus will serve as an anchor site.

This partnership comes at a critical moment: following the loss of all federal funding for the International Institute of St. Louis, the organization was forced to reduce its staff by 60%. In response, Counterpublic is accelerating its partnership with the IISTL through a new two-year cross-organizational fellowship designed to strengthen ties between the two institutions and deepen their engagement with the communities they serve—both leading up to and beyond the 2026 Triennial.

Established in 1919, the IISTL is the St. Louis region’s leading immigrant service provider and information hub. With nearly 1,000 volunteers and staff, the organization serves as a pivotal landing point for the city’s newest community members, offering comprehensive services including English and citizenship classes, career path assistance, job placement, counseling, and small-business development and microloans. As the primary immigrant integration and refugee resettlement agency in the State of Missouri, the IISTL has long relied on federal grants to fund its programs. Recent policy shifts and funding cuts with the new presidential administration have created urgent challenges, but also new opportunities to reimagine what long-term support and community partnership can look like.

This announcement builds on over a year of ongoing collaboration as part of Counterpublic’s community engagement process, during which the Institute and Counterpublic have co-created multilingual learning materials, collected stories from IISTL’s community of more than 7,500 New Americans representing over 75 countries, and begun planning site-specific works—ranging from permanent sculptures to performances, murals, meals, and community engaged art—that reflect the cultures rooted in and around IISTL’s campus.

“When the IISTL lost their federal funding, it was clear this was a moment to act. As an organization rooted in the belief that art can shape civic life, we saw the deepening of this partnership as both a responsibility and opportunity to invest in community, stand in solidarity, and to help build the future we want to live in,” says James McAnally, Counterpublic Co-founder and Executive + Artistic Director. The initiative emerged from Counterpublic’s Community Engagement Team. Melisa Betts Sanders, Director of Community Engagement, states, “We’re honored to support a critical institution like IISTL and to steward this partnership in a time of great need. New Americans are essential to the fabric of our city, and we remain committed to working collaboratively and creatively to support all members of our St. Louis communities—especially in moments of profound change, uncertainty, and injustice.”

The cornerstone of this institutional partnership is the inauguration of the newly created role of Community Engagement Fellow to be funded by Counterpublic and shared between the two organizations.

“Our work with Counterpublic over the past year has shown what’s possible when community organizations and cultural organizations align around shared values. Together, we’re creating programs and pathways that reflect the diversity and vitality of our communities—and working to ensure St. Louis is a place where everyone has the opportunity to thrive,” Kelly Moore, Director of Community Engagement at International Institute of St. Louis adds.