A partnership between the International Institute of St. Louis and Counterpublic will help the institute rebuild a bit of the capacity it lost earlier this year due to budget cuts.
The International Institute furloughed 60% of its workforce in February after the Trump administration suspended refugee resettlement and refused to distribute funds that had been approved by Congress.
Counterpublic is now sponsoring a newly created public outreach position to assist with the institute’s typical efforts and also help prepare for the 2026 Counterpublic exhibition. The institute’s headquarters and campus in Tower Grove East will be a key location for the public art display.
“We were really trying to think creatively about how we could support something that wasn’t intrusive. This felt like something that was a way we could support in a real way, and not just in a way that made us feel great,” said Melisa Betts Sanders, Counterpublic’s director of community engagement.
Counterpublic has been working with the International Institute for about a year, reaching out to immigrant communities to ask about their unmet needs and start planning the 2026 exhibition with an international perspective in mind.
Grace Murekatete, a caseworker for the institute who was furloughed in February, began this week in the new, full-time role of community engagement fellow. She’ll spend 15 hours a week focusing on Counterpublic — particularly its ongoing work with the International Institute — and spend the rest of her time supporting the Institute’s general outreach efforts.
“A lot of her work, and our team’s work, is reaching out to community groups throughout the region. We make those connections with corporations, schools, ethnic groups, chambers of commerce. Any group you can think of, we want to alert them about the International Institute and then engage them,” said Kelly Moore, the institute’s director of community engagement.
The International Institute has been welcoming other furloughed staff members back to work in recent months. Its annual Festival of Nations, typically one of the most-visited cultural events in the region, is scheduled for Aug. 23-24 in Tower Grove Park.
Counterpublic grew out of an exhibition at the Luminary art gallery and became an independent organization in 2021. Its executive director and artistic director is James McAnally, who co-founded the Luminary with Brea Youngblood. Counterpublic blends art advocacy with social justice work. After commissioning two Osage artists to install artwork near Sugarloaf Mound for the 2023 exhibition, the arts nonprofit facilitated the return of the historic site to Osage Nation control last year.
The 2026 Counterpublic exhibition of public art is scheduled for Sept. 12 through Dec. 12. In addition to the International Institute, anchor sites for artwork display will be in the Ville and Greater Ville neighborhoods, near the St. Louis riverfront and at the National Building Arts Center in Sauget.
