St Louis's Counterpublic Triennial Addresses Civic Neglect

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The third edition of Counterpublic, a public-art triennial in St Louis, Missouri, is exploring critical questions about art's role amid failing civic infrastructure and defunding for public programs. The event, titled“Coyote Time,” seeks to understand the burden placed on artists and who public art ultimately serves, themes that resonate strongly in the post-industrial city which continues to grapple with the aftermath of disinvestment and a recent tornado.

Organized by a curatorial team including Wanda Nanibush, Raphael Fonseca, Stefanie Hessler, Jordan Carter, and Nora N. Khan, the triennial features nearly 50 new commissions. These artworks are displayed at both permanent and temporary sites across St Louis and surrounding areas. One notable piece, Anika Todd's sculpture series Siren Song (2026), installs four municipal tornado sirens at Chouteau's Landing, an industrial warehouse south of the Gateway Arch. The piece incorporates watery field recordings of the Mississippi River and references a May 2025 tornado that struck the city, during which the alarm system failed, leaving thousands stranded. St Louis is still awaiting more than $1 billion in federal grants for long-term housing solutions.

Meanwhile, Timmy Simonds's Miss Othmar and Othmar Sumner Stowe Teachers Lounge (2026) features pendant flags made from parachutes, flying over the grounds of four school campuses. One location is Sumner High School, situated in the historic Black neighborhood of The Ville, which remains closed for repairs after the tornado destroyed part of its roof and several classrooms. Along the Mississippi Waterfront, Glenn Ligon's serpentine brick wall sculpture, Who Builds Anything in This Country? (2026), traces a line from a former enslaved brickmakers' factory to the river. Ligon invited local high-school students to imprint their fingers on the bricks, a gesture that echoes marks left by enslaved workers and honors their labor. Ligon observed in a talk at the riverfront during the triennial's opening weekend last month,“It was hard to tell what was existing rubble and what was tornado destruction.”

Counterpublic's approach, between 2024 and 2025, involved engaging with local organizations to identify community needs, using anecdotal data and direct engagement to inform its curatorial programming. At the International Institute, which supports recent immigrants, artists Inès Kivimäki and Rirkrit Tiravanija made practical contributions. Tiravanija hosts a collaborative food project with local chefs for pop-up meals in the cafeteria. Kivimäki delved into the organization's archives to create Third Space, a series of architectural maquettes and models that ultimately led to furniture for shared spaces, including a nursery and playroom. These projects exemplify artists taking a civic role, collaborating with organizations that have already identified community needs.

The relationship between artist, institution, and site can be more complex, as seen at the National Building Arts Center, located across the river. This archive of architectural elements was amassed by preservationist Larry Giles, who housed his collection in the former Sterling Steel Casting Company foundry. Here, artist Lynne Smith spent months creating The Unloading Dock (receiving, holding) (2026). Smith transformed a recessed loading dock into a pond filled with collected rainwater, its surface adorned with American Lotus blossoms. The presence of potential toxins from the former industrial plant raises questions about the environmental impact on the artist's health. This wider context highlights Martha Rosler's 2013 critique in her book Culture Class, where she cautioned that artists can become“unwitting assistants to upper-class rule,” their political efforts absorbed by urban development mechanisms.

The triennial, which runs through 12 December, spans various locations in and near St Louis, Missouri, and forces a re-evaluation of public art's evolving role. The works within“Coyote Time” attempt to address pressing issues such as environmental impact, municipal neglect, structural racism, and class disparity with varying degrees of success. This broad scope also raises a larger question about the increasingly expansive role assigned to“community” within contemporary arts institutions, a term that often appears in press releases without a clear articulation of its needs or what artists can realistically provide.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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