The My Mark Matters Experience

My Mark Matters™ (MMM™) is a profoundly compassionate humanitarian program that challenges participants to step outside of themselves—in order to look back within—and discover the unique gifts they hold for the world. I will share my personal journey and present a series of arts-integrated activities involving objects of art to explore where beauty is found and the importance of the marks we have and the marks we make.

Participants experience and explore this work of art that is both visually stimulating and visceral. I invite audiences to touch and respond to the objects. The objects become a personal experience to their handler and are a language to wake up, conjure up, and revive memories and stories. Audiences have the latitude to make broad assumptions and detailed observations based on their past experiences, prejudices, etc. I will then reveal the unusual and the unfamiliar and the audience is transformed in seeing beyond surfaces. MMM™ is a program with a unique approach that lays the foundation for authenticity, critical and analytical thinking, creativity, and social skills. Through participatory and collaborative activities, participants gain effective ways to engage peers, staff, employees, personnel, and faculty. The series of workshops are designed to inspire and challenge audiences of diverse abilities. I also work with educators, leaders, and facilitators to develop distinctive workshops to approach specific curricula, interactions, and conceptual needs for their audience.

The conclusion of MMM™ is magical—participants work alone, in groups, and as an audience—discussing, sharing, writing and documenting what they see. The individual marks and remarks are documented and added to an anthology.

Currently, MMM™ has collected marks and wishes from individuals representing 54 out of 195 countries.