Counterpublic

Join our team for the IISTL Race for Refugees!

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026
Time: 9am–12pm
Location: Tower Grove Park

Founded over a century ago, the International Institute of St. Louis has welcomed tens of thousands of New Americans through its refugee resettlement program, serving as a vital hub for immigrant communities in St. Louis. As a primary partner for Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time, we are supporting building updates and fellowships on their community engagement team. This fall, the campus will include temporary and permanent artworks by an international group of artists.

Come out to support IISTL by joining the Race for Refugees. Whether you're running or walking (in person or virtually), join us in celebrating the rich multiculturalism that New Americans bring to our community. Be a part of our family-friendly event (bring those dogs & strollers!) and help create a more welcoming community for ALL!

Visit the link below to register and join the Counterpublic team and pick up Coyote Time gear designed in partnership with People’s Art and Recreation Center (PARC). We can’t wait to walk, run, and support the International Institute of St. Louis with you.

https://raceroster.com/events/2026/114379/race-for-refugees

During registration, enter “Counterpublic” as your team name.
We will follow up with those registered with more information on meeting up!

The Mississippi Riverfront is an official Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time exhibition site.

Stretching along the edge of downtown St. Louis, the Mississippi Riverfront—anchored by the Gateway Arch, the symbolic “Gateway to the West”—will host a series of permanent commissions and temporary activations across iconic spaces adjacent to the river.

Gateway Arch National Park

The International Institute St. Louis is an official Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time exhibition site

Founded over a century ago, the International Institute of St. Louis has welcomed tens of thousands of new Americans through its refugee resettlement program, serving as a vital hub for immigrant communities in St. Louis. In the wake of a full federal defunding, Counterpublic will reimagine the campus with an international team of artists, as well as introduce a full-time fellowship at the Institute.

We are proud to work in The Ville Neighborhood for our upcoming exhibition, Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time

One of St. Louis’s most historically significant Black neighborhoods, The Ville—home to cultural figures including Tina Turner, Arthur Ashe, Dick Gregory, and Chuck Berry—will feature new commissions across a high school, community center, public park, and church grounds, engaging both the neighborhood’s legacy and its future.

https://counterpublic.org/edition/2026

Presenting the the museums + cultural organizations of the Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time exhibition. Furthering regional, national, and international exchange, Counterpublic will partner with major institutions across the region, including the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, the The Kranzberg, the WashU Kemper Art Museum, The Luminary, the National Building Arts Center, NON STNDRD, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and the Saint Louis Art Museum to realize groundbreaking and inclusive collaborative commissions.

Learn more here: https://counterpublic.org/edition/2026/

Diya Vij, Counterpublic 2023 Curator, has been appointed New York’s next Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In a statement to the New York Times, Mayor Mamdani called Vij a “visionary and deeply thoughtful leader.”

“I’m excited to apply my political lens to strengthening the systems that makes open, accessible and sometimes radical cultural activities possible,” Diya Vij says about her recent appointment.

Vij worked alongside fellow curators Allison Glenn, New Red Order, Risa Puleo, Katherine Simóne Reynolds, and James McAnally to build Counterpublic 2023 in St. Louis. Diya’s projects included:
→ Steffani Jemison’s multimedia installations throughout St. Louis Union Station - Jemison’s penny press was recently installed at The Griot
→ virgil b/g taylor’s “Confluence Decree” dispatches and newspaper box
→ Jordan Weber’s “Defensive Landscapes” – now a permanent feature in Peace Park

This year, Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time opens in September and will run through December 12, 2026, featuring work from over 50 artists collectively curated by Jordan Carter, Raphael Fonseca, Stefanie Hessler, Nora N. Khan, and Wanda Nanibush.