One of the thing I try to impress upon students in my Humanities classes is the importance of making a mark. It undergirds the assignments I have them do- whether creative or writing or both- that they should care about the marks they putting down in drawings or words. Even if they’re not the most eloquent or polished- our marks share are presence at a particular place and time and not only record our being somewhere but are a place where we actually are being. With this in mind when we look at an artist’s work, we have the opportunity to see their marks and trace their presence, allowing us to connect with another being even over thousands of years.