Media Contact:
Kaitlyn McAvoy
Communications Manager
Landmarks Illinois
kmcavoy@landmarks.org
fOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2022
Landmarks Illinois’ PRESERVATION FORWARD event will honor ‘2022 Influencers’ March 10 in Chicago
CHICAGO – Landmarks Illinois will host its spring fundraising event PRESERVATION FORWARD the evening of March 10, 2022, at the Old Post Office in Chicago. The event will honor the 2022 Landmarks Illinois Influencers, a group of seven women honorees who have shaped Illinois’ built environment and, who through their work, are joining Landmarks Illinois in its progressive effort to create a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible preservation movement.
“PRESERVATION FORWARD encapsulates the spirit and excitement around what preservation is becoming,” said Bonnie McDonald, President & CEO of Landmarks Illinois. “Our 2022 Influencers are equally redefining preservation by showing how historic places are part of a just and inclusive future. We’re excited to work with them to move preservation forward.”
The 2022 Landmarks Illinois Influencers are:
- Mariah DiGrino, Partner, DLA Piper
- Eleanor Esser Gorski, Executive Director, Cook County Land Bank Authority
- Tiara Hughes, Chicago Landmarks Commissioner, FIRST 500 Founder, SOM Senior Urban Designer
- Cheryl Johnson, Executive Director, People for Community Recovery
- Tonika Lewis Johnson, Social Justice Artist
- Stacey Pfingsten, Executive Vice President, American Institute of Architects Illinois
- Alicia Ponce, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, Founding Principal, APMonarch
Click here to learn more about the 2022 Landmarks Illinois Influencers.
PRESERVATION FORWARD event details & registration
PRESERVATION FORWARD will take place 5:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at the Old Post Office, 433 W. Van Buren St., Chicago. Visit Landmarks.org/events/preservation-forward to register for the event and/or learn about sponsorship opportunities. Reservations for the event are $500. Reservations for the event’s after-party are also available for $40-$100.
The celebration will feature a cocktail reception and interactive food stations in lieu of a sit-down dinner. The event’s short awards program will also give guests ample time for networking with preservation and professional peers. An after-party will feature desserts from Chicago’s pastry chefs, late-night snacks and music entertainment.
A virtual attendance option will be available. Visit Landmarks Illinois’ website to learn more and to stay up to date regarding potential event changes due to the ongoing pandemic.
More about PRESERVATION FORWARD
PRESERVATION FORWARD is a redesign of Landmarks Illinois’ popular spring fundraiser previously named the Legendary Landmarks Celebration. The reimagining of this event is a response to Landmarks Illinois’ 50th anniversary in 2021 when the organization set in motion plans to create a more inclusive and engaging preservation movement that gives communities more say in identifying places that are special to them and worth preserving.
Landmarks Illinois’ annual spring fundraiser also previously took place at the Hilton Chicago. This year, PRESERVATION FORWARD will be held at the 101-year-old Old Post Office in Chicago, a once endangered, monumental building that was saved with the help of Landmarks Illinois sustained advocacy. After sitting vacant for nearly two decades, an $800 million renovation of the 2.5 million-square-foot Old Post Office was completed in 2020.
“Moving our largest event to the Old Post Office showcases Landmarks Illinois’ steadfast advocacy for this historic building and how imagination and reinvestment can transform even the most challenging, vacant places into vibrant spaces,” said McDonald.
About Landmarks Illinois
We are People Saving Places for People. Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based nonprofit organization serving the people of Illinois. We inspire and empower stakeholders to save places that matter to them by providing free guidance, practical and financial resources and access to strategic partnerships. For more information, visit www.Landmarks.org.
###
Learn more or register for PRESERVATION FORWARD