Name: “The Nature of Place” an evening with Stephanie Mills & Seth Bernard
Start: 2026-01-14T18:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-14T20:00:00-05:00
Location: The Grand Traverse Circuit "Community Cultural Arts, Wellness, & Education"

$\u201cThe Nature of Place\u201d an evening with Stephanie Mills & Seth Bernard$

Author, activist and bioregionalist Stephanie Mills will give an encore presentation of her speech “Starting from and Staying with the Nature of Place” on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 at The Grand Traverse Circuit from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Mills first delivered her speech in October 2025 as the keynote address for the 18th Annual Freshwater Summit.
Sponsored by the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, the event is a fundraiser benefitting Title Track, founded by activist, community organizer and singer/songwriter Seth Bernard.
Mills has been an advocate for bioregionalism and a voice for nature and community for decades. Beginning with her 1969 Mills College commencement address “The Future is a Cruel Hoax,” Mills was launched into the spotlight as an emerging voice for an evolving generation.
Mills’ advocacy and body of work are extensive; she has spoken locally, nationally and internationally, served on innumerable boards, served as editor for multiple publications, in addition to publishing her own “scores of essays, editorials and book reviews appearing in publications from Resurgence and Orion to the Britannica Book of the Year, as well as in numerous anthologies.”
Introducing Mills is Seth Bernard, known throughout the region for both his prolific musical repertoire and advocacy through his non-profit organization Title Track. Title Track engages creative practices to build resilient social-ecological systems to support clean water, racial equity, and youth empowerment. This is achieved in part through the legacy of the Neahtawanta Research and Education Center. He is also the founder of Earthwork Music, a collective of independent Michigan musicians united through original music entwined with cultural and environmental awareness.
Bernard was recognized as a 2025 Michigan Climate Champion Award winner through the Michigan Climate Action Network, and is currently garnering community support in opposition to building data centers throughout Michigan.
More information about Mills and Bernard can be found on their respective websites:
https://smillswriter.com/, https://samuelsethbernard.com/