CAM is pleased to present its annual student showcase from ArtReach, the Museum’s suite of programs for K–12 schools aimed at providing support in classrooms where art is needed most. Through a collaboration with St. Louis Public Schools established in 2017, the ArtReach Partnership ensures a consistent art curriculum is available for students year-round at Vashon and Sumner High Schools. CAM hires and trains a cohort of Resident Teaching Artists (RTAs) to lead art classes twice a week. This year’s program at Sumner High School was presented in partnership with Counterpublic, the St. Louis-based triennial that will feature the work of 50 artists throughout the city through December 12, 2026.

“What role does collaboration play in transforming individual creative visions into collective community action?” This was one of the questions that RTAs considered as they designed their curricula for the year’s theme of “Collaborative Futures.” Through various quarter-long projects, students were invited to conceptualize themselves in relation to the collective. Over the course of the year, CAM partnered with Counterpublic and Great Rivers Greenway, whose collaboration with the RTAs and students put the curricular theme in practice. 

A small selection of zines produced by students at Sumner High School is also on view at St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s Art & Culture Program. ArtReach: Zines as Activism is installed near Gate E14 in Terminal 2 through December 15, 2026. 

ArtReach: Near Futures is organized for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis by Miriam Ruiz, Education Manager, in partnership with Counterpublic.