Talk Story: Pacific and Filipino Voices in the Museum

Top, l-r, Ria Pretekin, Christopher Philip, RJ Silva; bottom, l-r, Jamie Kelly, Cecilia L. Salvatore

Panelists include

Ria Pretekin (Moderator), Cyrus Tang Learning Resources Educator
Ria Pretekin (she/her/siya) is a Filipina American, born and raised in Los Angeles currently living in Chicago with her husband, two children, parents, and goldendoodle. She is an educator, equity coach, facilitator, speaker and has spent much of her career as a school counselor in public high schools from Santa Ana, CA to Chicago, IL. In her last role at the University of Chicago, Ria provided coaching and professional development to educators to help build the capacity of school leaders to understand adolescent development as it relates to improving postsecondary outcomes. Ria currently serves as a Museum Educator at the Field Museum, co-creating learning experiences and learning resources with AANHPI communities to equip educators to meet the TEAACH (Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History) Act. Ria earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and social behavior from the University of California, Irvine, and earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California. 

Jamie Kelly, Collections Manager, African Archaeology; and the Ethnography and Archaeology of Europe; the Middle East; South, Central, and East Asia; and Mainland and Island Southeast Asia
As part of a museum collections and curation team, Jamie’s role is not only to help care for the roughly 1.5 million cultural items at the museum, but also to connect descendant communities, researchers, educators, and the general public to these collections through community partnerships, behind-the-scenes visits and tours, community-driven programs, museum education initiatives, public events, loans, and exhibitions. Since 2011, he has been part of a team at the Museum engaging and working with Filipino-American and Filipino partners to help in the care of the roughly 13,000 cultural items that make up the Philippine collections at the Field Museum. During this time, community partners and museum staff have hosted community-driven programs centered around the collections, digitized and photographed aspects of the collection, hosted Indigenous visitors and researchers from the Philippines, and added contemporary pieces to the collection through donations and purchases with community guidance. Between 2013 and 2024, he served as Head of the Anthropology Collections. 

Christopher Philipp, Collections Manager, African Ethnography and the Ethnography and Archaeology of Middle America, South America, and the Pacific
Christopher Philipp works as a collections manager in the Gantz Family Collections Center at the Field Museum.  He is responsible for assisting with the care of and providing access to the Anthropology collections, including those originating from the continent of Africa (historic and contemporary cultures), the Pacific Islands, and Latin America (Meso, Central, and South America).

Cecilia L. Salvatore, C.A., MLS, PhD
Cecilia Lizama Salvatore is an archivist/educator who advances and advocates for co-curation of museum collections. She was professor and coordinator of the Archives and Cultural Heritage Program at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois for 17 years.  She is a Co-PI in a Mellon Foundation grant that supports students and communities in their community archives. Professor Salvatore grew up on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific. She has collaborated with the Field Museum on the museum's Pacific Islands collection.

RJ Silva, CIRCA Pintig Artistic Director
RJ is the Artistic Director of CIRCA Pintig, Chicago's Filipino theatre and community arts organization. A playwright, director, producer, and community arts leader, RJ has extensive experience using storytelling, performance, and collaborative arts practices to amplify Filipino American voices and histories. Through his leadership, CIRCA Pintig launched the Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival and continues to create original works that center community narratives, cultural memory, and belonging.
RJ Silva was born and raised in Manila, and moved to America when he was thirteen, and is a graduate at Loyola University Chicago’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts. He and husband Adam founded Nova Entertainment, a production company that was created from the success of their popular podcast “Boys Love Boys Love.”

This event takes place in Ward Hall on the lower level and is included with general admission.