St. Louis Art Exhibit Counterpublic Closes This Weekend

The closing ceremonies include performances from the public art project artists

Jul 13, 2023 at 11:44 am

Braden McMakin

The Native Guide Project: STL by Anna Tsouhlarakis.

With articles celebrating its arrival in the New York Times, Forbes and other national outlets, Counterpublic definitely brought St. Louis' art scene to new heights of awareness.

The triannual public art installation opened April 15 and closes this weekend on Saturday, July 15. This year's iteration focused on a stretch of Jefferson Avenue running from Sugarloaf Mound at Ohio Avenue to the Griot Museum of Black History, where Jefferson crosses St. Louis Avenue.

It included 30 commissioned art installations and four permanent sculptures.

“The theme [is] about looking out to the past for a lens of repair,” James McAnally, executive and artistic director and part of the curatorial team, told the RFT in April. He explained that the art was created in spaces with histories that illustrate native displacement, Black displacement, inequality and segregation.

“[By] inviting in artists to work in the spaces, we wanted to not just focus on the past but also what could be done in the present to repair what has happened here," he added.

Slideshow

Counterpublic Highlights St. Louis History With Eye-Catching Art

Click to View 29 slides

The closing weekend of Counterpublic also includes a program that celebrates and further explores the exhibition's intention and impact. Events include:

Thursday, July 13
Jordan Weber Peace Park Groundbreaking
Peace Park from 5 to 7 p.m.

Friday, July 14

Raven Chacon Drum Grid Performance
Benton Park at 5 p.m.

New Red Order and Cahokia Intertribal Noise Symposium Presents: The Gathering (Night one)
Greenfinch Theater and Dive (2525 Washington Avenue) from 6 p.m. to midnight

Saturday, July 15
David Adjaye Asaase III Unveiling + Block Party
The Griot Museum of Black History (2505 St. Louis Avenue), 11 a.m.

Laura Ortman Performance
Pulitzer Arts Foundation (3716 Washington Avenue), 3 p.m.

New Red Order and Cahokia Intertribal Noise Symposium Presents: The Gathering (Night two)
Greenfinch Theater and Dive (2525 South Jefferson Avenue) from 6 p.m. to midnight

Sunday, July 16
Water Acknowledgement with Anita Fields and Performance by The Wah.zha.zhe Puppet Theatre
Sugarloaf Mound (4420 Ohio Avenue), 10 to 11:30am

For more details and a description of events, visit counterpublic.org/programs-2023.