Upriver/Downriver is a site-specific installation in Louisville by Mark Reigelman II. It’s part of a public art exhibition, CONNECT/DISCONNECT, commissioned by Louisville Metro Government, in conjunction with the Commission of Public Art (COPA). The goal of the exhibition was to transform a unique riverfront site on the Ohio River with a site-specific, temporary public art installation. Upriver/Downriver invites visitors to explore and contemplate the riverfront in its present state and engage with the many layers of this vibrant post-industrial river city.

Unlike most American cities, which were selected based on their strategic locations, Louisville became populated because of inconvenience. Early settlers used the Ohio River as a major transportation and trading route but, because of the Falls of the Ohio, were forced to unload (disconnect) their possessions, which were often sealed in barrels, carry them around the falls, and reload (connect) before continuing on their already challenging journey. As river traffic picked up in the early 1800’s Louisville’s riverfront became a mountain-scape of wooden vessels waiting to move up and down the Ohio River.