A People's Salon
Illinois Humanities cordially invites you to join us at Haymarket House for A People’s Salon: 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. Free food and drinks will be provided by the creative culinary studios TXA TXA Club and Kestral Wine and Spirits. Bring a friend or come alone – either way, you will leave with new ideas and new connections.
Cohosts Jane Beachy and Sylvia Ewing get things rolling. Photo by GlitterGuts Photography.
Photo by Matthew Gregory Hollis of an Elective Studies Supper Club gathering.
Upcoming Salons
Register below to join us for FREE at Haymarket House for dinner, presentations, and performances! Bring a friend.
Registration for the following events will open at least four weeks before the date of the Salon.
HOUSE & HOME: A People’s Salon
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 | 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Haymarket House | 800 W Buena Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Presenters and Performers
Arts and culture organizer and performance poet Tiff Beatty; Art collector, photographer, and retired environmental chemist Patric McCoy; Policy advocate and community organizer Laurie Jo Reynolds; Director and artist Robyn Mineko Williams
Home is where the heart is… or maybe the heart is what defines the home? Join us at Haymarket House – previously a private home – to interrogate where we lay our heads at night, and how that affects our days.
FEAR ITSELF: A People’s Salon
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Haymarket House | 800 W Buena Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Presenters and Performers
Fictional writer and adult and forensic psychiatrist Willie Mae Jackson, M.D., M.A.; Writer, director, and lip gloss connoisseur Coya Paz; Advocate and community-driven public servant Senator Robert Peters; Actor, writer, and visual artist Mary Williamson
With so much on the line and so many valid reasons for anxiety and concern, it can be easy to move through the world in a state of fear. Our special guests for this salon remind us to find strength and courage from the small triumphs, collective victories, and inspiring possibilities that abound around us. After all, we’ve nothing to fear but…
THE CLIMATE: A People’s Salon
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Haymarket House
800 W Buena Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Presenters and Performers
Air Credits, Rachel Havrelock, Candace Hunter, Respair Media (Damon Williams & Daniel Kisslinger), Sylvia Ewing, Timothy David Rey
Against the backdrop of the Democratic National Convention's visit to Chicago, the unfolding 2024 national election, and the ongoing climate crisis, we invite you to join Illinois Humanities, along with an array of some of the city’s most thoughtful artists, thinkers, and organizers, to take the temperature of our communities and our city.
THE DREAM: A People’s Salon
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Haymarket House
800 W Buena Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Presenters and Performers
Fairouz AbuGhazaleh, Zeshan B, Faylita Hicks, Willy Palomo, Bindu Poroori, and Iván Resendiz
2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document built from a dream for a new nation that was to exemplify liberty and justice for all. Since then, we've been striving (and often failing) to live up to this promise, but no amount of inequity and inner turmoil can stop determined people from pursuing a better life for themselves and their communities. Join us as we consider, question, and reimagine the American Dream today.
What’s a salon?
A brief history of salons
Salons (the gatherings, not the beauty shops) have existed and proliferated around the world for thousands of years and their existence has been recorded as far back as pre-Islamic Arabia and Ancient Greece. While the specifics have varied wildly across time and geography, at their core, salons are intentional gatherings created by a host to promote the exchange of compelling thought and art.
Although there are many examples over the course of history of salons being hosted in elitist environments, they have also played a deeply substantial (and often subversive) role in cultural and philosophical evolution. Historically, salons have been hosted by women – salonières – who set the agenda, invite the guests, and preside over the affair. This platform has allowed women to wield tremendous influence over the political, social, and cultural discourse of many eras that would not have formally acknowledged them.
And from the salons of the 600s CE Arabian Peninsula (such as those hosted by Sukaynah Bint Al-Husayn) to salons of the Weimar era hosted by Jewish women including Sara Levy and Fanny Von Arnstein, to those hosted by lesbian expat salonières Gertrude Stein and Natalie Clifford Barney in early 1900s Paris, to the salons of the Harlem Renaissance hosted by A’lelia Walker and Zora Neale Hurston, this form of gathering has long served as a vehicle for individuals who are marginalized by their contemporary society to have a profound impact on the ideas and culture that shape our lives.
Here are some examples of modern salons that emphasize inclusion.
Contact Us
Martin Matsuyuki Kruase
Manager, Special Initiatives
events@ilhumanities.org
(312) 374-1547
Contact
Suite 650, 125 South Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60603
312.422.5580 312.374.6787
600 Troy Road
N4, Room 207
Edwardsville, IL 62025
618.468.5580
Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Illinois Humanities respects the privacy of its audiences and will at no time sell or distribute personal information to any party not directly affiliated with Illinois Humanities and its programs.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, our partnering organizations, or our funders.
© Copyright 2024 Illinois Humanities