People know I’m very much involved in the arts, so I’m often stopped with questions about it. Lately, the question I keep hearing is: What exactly is St. Louis’ Counterpublic Triennial?

A counterpublic triennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition held every three years that is organized around a specific idea: the “counterpublic”—a community or network that exists outside dominant cultural, political, or institutional power structures.

The term itself comes out of critical theory, most notably from the work of scholar Nancy Fraser.

So what is a counterpublic? In plain terms, it’s:

• A group that forms in response to exclusion from mainstream public discourse.

• A space where marginalized voices can develop their own conversations, identities and cultural production.

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• A community that actively challenges dominant narratives.

And that usually leads to the next question: Is this the same as counterculture? The answer is no. Counterculture is a lifestyle or movement that opposes mainstream culture. A counterpublic, on the other hand, is more about creating space—space for dialogue, expression and community that exists alongside, or in response to, the mainstream public discourse.

In St. Louis, the art project “Counterpublic” puts that idea into practice. It brings artists and communities together to create temporary public artworks and conversations in neighborhoods across the city, encouraging alternative perspectives and participation outside traditional museum settings.

Counterculture, by contrast, is more about broad social movements like the hippie movement of the 1960s, for example, which rejected consumerism and embraced peace and communal living, or punk culture in the 1970s and ’80s, which challenged social and political norms through music, fashion and attitude.

The leaders and founders of St. Louis’ Counterpublic, James McAnally and Lee Broughton, have said that for three months every three years, Counterpublic weaves contemporary art into the fabric of St. Louis life. As one of the world’s largest public art platforms, it brings 30 public art commissions to parks, community gathering spaces, historic homes and forward-looking museums and institutions across the city.

“We use the phrase ‘reimagining civic infrastructures towards generational change,’ and that’s a mouthful,” said McAnally. “At the end of the day, we want to commission art that responds specifically to St. Louis, as well as the pressing issues facing the region, to connect art and social change.”

Broughton often points to a line from the late Maya Angelou, who was born in St. Louis: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

“We refer to that quote because storytelling is the essence of Counterpublic,” Broughton said. “For three months every three years, we want to bring people from around the world to St. Louis—an epicenter of arts and culture—to experience these commissions. But we also want to be a storytelling platform for stories we’ve either forgotten or ignored.”

One of the moments from Counterpublic 2023 that moved me most was the site of “Sugarloaf Mound.” Counterpublic worked with the Osage Nation to activate the site, a mound located in south city. In doing so, Counterpublic respectfully acknowledges that we are on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Osage, Missouria and Illini people, who have stewarded this land for generations. It asks us to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration and settlement that shape this community today—and the ways in which we might begin to care for and repair those legacies in the present.

So when is the next Counterpublic in St. Louis? And when does it begin? The theme of the next iteration is “Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time.” It runs from Sept. 12 to Dec. 12.

More than 50 artists will create new commissions and installations around the city. Projects will appear in several major locations, including the Mississippi Riverfront, the Ville neighborhood, and partner museums and cultural institutions. The exhibition aims to connect art with social change, community activism, climate issues and civic imagination—which is why many people describe it as having a counterculture spirit.

Counterpublic is intentionally designed to challenge traditional museum structures by putting art in the streets, neighborhoods and public sites, and by involving community groups and activists. It addresses political and social issues through art and invites the public into conversations about the city’s future.

I’m very much looking forward to another art-filled, thought-provoking way of seeing our city—and our lives here—in an already culturally rich St. Louis.