Cassie Tompkins 2025

Abstract

Bioregionalism, whose principles were conveyed by the environmentalist Peter Berg in the 1970s (and are widely present in indigenous land practices) is an awareness of both the diverse life-forms of a place and how they are interrelated, including with humans. Bioregionalist thought not only encompasses practices like habitat restoration and regenerative agriculture, it has cultural elements. It asks us to identify as citizens of the bioregion as much as the state, meaning not only having a familiarity with the local ecology but maintaining a commitment to stewarding it together. This essay uses bioregionalism or ‘placefulness’ as a framework to examine my own multidisciplinary practice and that of contemporary artists who utilize tenets of the philosophy to sustain, memorialize, and empathize with a place and its people.