The Old Symposium
the story + the people
Our Story
Our lives have revolved around local projects, humanities education, design, development, and community life. The Old Symposium began as the dream of a bookstore and community institute that could bridge gaps between the life of everyday community members and the best writing, learning and research happening across the world. We want everyone to feel in their bones how big and wide and extraordinary the world is and that each person is a part of the conversation that makes it so. Community institute, to us, means a place where learning is a part of one's whole life. The Old Symposium, is, in a sense, a commoner's university. Where anyone from any walk of life can come, find something to read or join a community of learning that is accessible, available and built for the life long learner rather than the university student.
The project started taking shape when we formed a team of three and started planning a collaborative environment of books, education, art and design. We found a perfect space at 1311 SW Adams with great owners and great neighbors and set to work. The Old Symposium is a labor of love. We've done as much of the work as we could ourselves including painting, shelf-building, furniture acquisition, and book selection. Everything you see when you enter our space is something that we have touched, arranged, refined, or built as a team with support from our broader beautiful network of family and friends. We've received generous donations of time, books, and furniture from loved ones and community members. Our doors would not be open without these acts of generosity.
Meet the Team
CURATOR
institute director THE OLD SYMPOSIUM
Nick Mitchell
A Central Illinois local and Navy Seabee veteran, Nick has spent the last 13 years as a humanities student and educator and community development professional. Nick holds a PhD in social ethics from Loyola University Chicago and degrees in urban planning, religious studies, and philosophy from University of Illinois and University of New Mexico. He is married to Abbey, has two sons, coaches baseball, reads books and enjoys long walks on hot urban sidewalks. All this time, Nick has been training to be a bookstore owner by spending all his money on books. His only vocational goal in life is to spend as much time as possible around the table in conversation with others.
PLACEMAKER
bookstore manager THE OLD SYMPOSIUM
Abbey Mitchell
For the last decade, Abbey has been taught by her two sons how to be a better human in this vast, wild world. She is married to Nick who has been her counterpart for longer than she can put sense to. If she could dance all day, every day, she would. If she could ensure a good life for every animal, she would. She loves to grow food, to cook food and to eat food. Although her home has been and forever will be Central Illinois, a piece of her soul still resides in Albuquerque, NM. When she grows up, she hopes to be as lovingly generous as her parents and as joyfully content as her grandparents. Find her tidying up the shop, chatting with customers or staring out the big windows feeling grateful just to be here.
RESIDENT DESIGNER
founder LESLIE TYLER DESIGN & BUILD
Reagan Leslie Hill
As Resident Designer at The Old Symposium, Reagan Leslie’s work exists at the intersection of design, history, and storytelling. Reagan believes that buildings, much like books, carry the marks of the people who came before us. Her approach to design begins with listening; to a place, to its history, and to the people who call it home.
Reagan has built her career around helping clients uncover the character and potential hidden beneath decades of change. Whether guiding the restoration of a historic residence, reimagining a commercial building, or advocating for preservation within her community, she is motivated by a simple idea: that the most meaningful places are those that honor their past while remaining relevant to the present.
Visitors to The Old Symposium will find Reagan's studio tucked among the books, a fitting place for a designer whose work is rooted in the belief that every building, like every great book, has a story worth preserving.
