Shortly after Counterpublic chose the sites for its third edition, the city began taking them away one by one. The first loss was the International Institute, a nonprofit serving immigrants and refugees. On Donald Trump's first day back in office, an executive order suspending refugee admissions gutted its budget and furloughed 60 percent of its staff. Then a tornado tore through The Ville, ripping the roof off Sumner High School. Next, a warehouse among the show's main sites caught fire and smouldered all Black Friday weekend until its roof collapsed.

The exhibition that emerged is Counterpublic 2026: Coyote Time, a three-month show, 10 September to 13 December 2026, with 50 artists in installations, performances and public events across St. Louis and the Metro East. The title comes from a video game by Alice Bucknell, named for the grace period after a character runs off a cliff. The show was organised by Jordan Carter, Raphael Fonseca, Stefanie Hessler, Nora N. Khan and Wanda Nanibush.

At the International Institute, the curators installed commissions and raised money to rehire staff and repair the building. Petrit Halilaj's monumentalisation of children's drawings from Kosovo hangs on the facade, recalling his own childhood as a refugee, while Rachel Youn's kinetic sculpture moves fake flowers like car-wash brushes in homage to immigrant labour. Rirkrit Tiravanija runs a temporary restaurant serving free food, its pawpaw recipes developed with the Institute's clients, who trained for hospitality careers; Counterpublic also funded new ventilation and brought the kitchen up to code.

Some works are hard to spot: Margaret Honda installed benches and a brick path in The Ville, and Brianna Leatherbury buried nine phosphate sculptures reclaimed from wastewater, four in The Ville and five along the riverfront, that absorb lead and cleanse the soil. Glenn Ligon's brick wall stands near the Gateway Arch as a permanent work. Fifteen pieces, including a stage by Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch, will remain as gifts to the city, though the show does not dodge gentrification: one protester on opening night carried a sign warning that communities are not a brand.