POWER OF PLACE: A People’s Salon
When
Apr 29, 2026
6:00pm–9:00pm
Cost
Free.
Registration is required.
- Where do you feel most at home?
- What makes a place charged with meaning, memory, possibility?
- How does where you stand today connect you to what has come before and what could still unfold?
Illinois Humanities invites you to join the second event in our 2026 public conversation series, A People’s Salon, exploring the theme of POWER OF PLACE, hosted at Haymarket House. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, we gather to consider how America’s complicated legacy lives not just in history books, but in neighborhoods, buildings, streets, and stories, and in us.
Spend the evening with this salon’s presenters as we reflect, listen, and ground ourselves in our current moment and shared place. Expect thoughtful conversation, collective insight, and the simple joy of being together, along with delicious food from the culinary genius of TXA TXA Club and lively spirits from Letherbee Distillers, Revolution Brewing, and middle brow.
Come curious. Come hungry. Come ready to root yourself in PLACE.
The Presenters and Performers
Orlando "Chilly" Mayorga & Angel Pantoja
Orlando "Chilly" Mayorga is a program officer at the Polk Bros. Foundation working to make Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Orlando's 20 years of incarceration in the Illinois Department of Corrections informs his commitment to advancing criminal legal reform that is guided by restorative justice. Following his release, he worked at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation while earning his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern Illinois University and now holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, where he was also selected to be an Obama Foundation Scholar.
Orlando previously served the State of Illinois as the Executive Director of the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission and also as the Reentry Policy Coordinator McCormick Fellow in the Office of Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton’s Justice, Equity, and Opportunity Initiative, contributing to statewide reentry and systems-change efforts.
Angel Pantoja is the Assistant Superintendent of Operations for the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.
Audrey Petty
Audrey Petty is a writer of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. She currently works as an editor, educator and writer at the Invisible Institute. She is also a member of the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project.
Learn more at audreypetty.com.
photo by Maurice Rabb
Monica Rickert-Bolter
Monica Rickert-Bolter is a Chicago-based visual artist of Potawatomi and Black heritage. Her artwork uses traditional media, such as charcoal and pastels, as well as graphic design and digital coloring to create expressive characters and tell diverse stories. After her undergrad, Monica became involved with Native nonprofits, combining her love of art and education to develop youth programs and resources, including illustrating children’s books and activity books.
Monica is a co-founder and the Director of Operations at the Center for Native Futures, a Native fine arts gallery that opened in 2023. Her artwork has been featured in exhibitions at The National Museum of the American Indian, The Field Museum, the Hyde Park Art Center, the University of North Carolina Stone Center, The Watershed Art & Ecology, the National Public Housing Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Center for Native Futures.
Monica's upcoming collaborative projects include a public art piece with the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights in Decatur, GA, and an Afro-Indigenous Futurist graphic novel with her brother Joel Rickert about Jean Baptiste-Pointe DuSable, the first non-Native founder of Chicago, and his Potawatomi wife/partner Kitihawa.
Nubia Willman
Nubia Willman is the Chief Programs Officer at Latinos Progresando.
Nubia is also the founder and editor of Latinas Uprising, a digital platform that empowers Latinas to access leadership roles in the legal field. Informed by her experience as a licensed attorney, she built a digital platform that engages over 28,000 young professionals and amplifies Latina voices by fostering online dialogue and providing resources through blog posts and videos.
Nubia created content for the 2024 Democratic National Convention and coordinated the University of California, Los Angeles’ Latino Policy and Politics Institute’s national symposium, convening over 300 Latinas to discuss professional development, public policy, legal advocacy strategies, and building the next generation of Latina leaders.
More About...
Haymarket House
Haymarket House, a community space in the heart of Chicago's Uptown neighborhood and home to Haymarket Books, hosts political, cultural, literary, and community events. They are committed to uplifting the work of writers, artists, thinkers, activists, and educators who are committed to all struggles for a better world.
TXA TXA Club
TXA TXA Club is a creative culinary studio based in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Their team of artists, chefs, writers, stylists, and food activists is dedicated to making and sharing food through their catering program and monthly supper club that redefines hospitality and the dining scene through community and artistic collaborations.
Revolution Brewing
The change in the U.S. beer scene has undoubtedly been revolutionary. Revolution Brewing has become a leader and innovator in the industry. The evolving tastes of beer drinkers have demanded bigger flavors, more variety, and better beer. That’s exactly what you get at Revolution Brewing. Between its brewery and brewpub, Revolution Brewing produces dozens of different beer styles every year. IPAs, porters, pilsners, Belgian-style ales, pale ales, barrel-aged beers—the list goes on.
Revolution's brewery has been a labor of love. You can see it in everything they do, from the beautiful details of our mahogany bar at the brewpub, to the massive beauty of our eight 800-barrel fermenters at the brewery, to the commitment to quality in each beer that's put in a can or a keg.
middle brow
middle brow makes their own beer, wine, pizza dough, and bread entirely from sources in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
Given that their beverage program is over 95% made from produce and other earth'm within 150 miles of home, their menu is likely more "local" than any other restaurant in the country.
Learn more at middlebrowbeer.com.
Letherbee Distillers
Rewind to 2007: Brenton Engel is cooking moonshine in his basement. Two years later, his bootlegged “Illinois Joy” would create a cult following outside neighborhood bars and with restaurant cooks across the city. Brenton soon starts bartending (shout out to Lula Cafe) and working heavily with herbs and spices. Incorporating these botanicals into the home operation unlocked ideas for all-natural botanical spirits made in a new way, from a new perspective - free from corporate compromises.
With absolutely zero influence from outside investors or marketers, Letherbee's level of authenticity is second to none. Now distributing across the US, a little in Europe, and a little in Canada, the product family consists of the Original Label Gin, Barrel-Aged Absinthe, Autumnal & Vernal Gins, Bësk, and Fernet.
Venue Parking and Directions
Parking
Haymarket House is located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. There is limited, free parking in the building’s parking lot accessible via Clarendon Avenue. There is also free street parking nearby.
Parking for a fee is available at nearby Walter Disney Magnet School on Clarendon Avenue and Belle Plaine Avenue about a block away.
Directions
The 146, 151, and 36 buses stop nearby. The CTA Red Line at Sheridan or Wilson is about 7 blocks away.
Get driving directions here.
Accessibility
Haymarket House is equipped with a ramp from the parking lot to the main floor, elevators, and accessible, all-gender restrooms. There are a few steps leading up to the front door of the building.
If you require accommodations to participate in this event fully, please contact Brooklyn Rue at events@ilhumanities.org at least 48 hours before the event.
Vegan and vegetarian options will be available. Please list any food allergies when registering.
A People's Salon
A People’s Salon is a series of four energizing evenings of chef-driven meals, creative performances, and lively discussions about the big ideas and cultural movements of our moment. Each salon is curated around important current issues and features artists, thinkers, and organizers who will present original works that spark connections between our lived experiences, expert opinions, and the futures we want to see.
A People's Salon is presented in partnership with Haymarket House and TXA TXA Club.
Register for This Event