STUDENT COMMENTS
"As I found out what some of my classes were, some of the classes being offered, and some of the classes I wanted to take, I thought "I feel very well prepared." I think it's because of you and the classes I did with you at ASU." (ASU 2006 graduate who is now on full scholarship at CalArts)
"…your movement class at ASU has played a more important role in my professional career so far than anything else I took." (ASU graduating senior 2006)
“Your 1998 performance art class shaped what I do today –In February 2005 I will graduate from the MFA program at Vermont College and I continue to do performance, video and installation.. it took me 6.5 years to obtain my BFA from Kutztown and in those 6.5 years your course was by far the most rewarding.”
"I wanted to thank you for your class. That spring was a crucial time for me, largely due to the artists being studied in your course. Karen {Finley} immediately struck a chord with me, as did all the performance art studied that semester."
“I entered your class as a skeptic and ended up enjoying it very much. The field trips were a great opportunity to really broaden my appreciation of different forms of art. I took away a real understanding of how important movement is to a person's overall mental and physical state and have been inspired to stretch everyday to continue to increase my range of movement.”
“Jeff treats us as creative peers and doesn’t use the power of the teacher position to dominate.”
“Jeff…commands the student to think, process ideas, and elevate work to a professional, modern level.”
"Your teaching is very alive and vibrant… a great care enters into your work not solely as an artist but as an educator. It seems that a problem surfaces when one truly considers himself to be solely artist or educator, as if the two can exist without one another. You exhibit a passion to embody the two, and this in my opinion makes for excellent teaching."
"You are an incredible teacher and I am learning a great deal from you."
"Jeff is someone I trust implacably"
"Jeff taught me a lot about how movement reflects a character’s attitude."
"… a supportive and wonderful teacher…great enthusiasm and energy."
“Easily one of the best experiences I have had at Kutztown”
“Jeff interprets a form of art that I am not familiar with and gives us all an in-depth look at performance art history and allows us to use our own creative artistic approaches to create our own art.”
“Mr. McMahon is a very valuable person to have at Kutztown”
“I
love the contemporary ideas he brings to class. He is able to incorporate
every aspect of performance to meet all and any area of concentration...Great
course!”
“I wish we had this class more often”
“Jeff’s teaching style is wonderful. This class is essential to an artist in the 90's and onward.”
“The knowledge Jeff brought from living in NYC made the pieces he showed us come alive and have more meaning to what we were doing. His constructive criticism kept the class improving with each performance. Everybody seems to be inspired by him; I know I am...it doesn’t get much better!”
“Prof. McMahon has an amazing knowledge...readily understands all that you ask him, and can also relate it to other fields....I hope you offer more courses in the future with Prof. McMahon.”
“Reading assignments and videos were all great. A lot of diversity in style and subject matter. Field trips were great. Assignments good for pushing me into something I wouldn’t normally like to do. Student comments always encouraged. Feedback on writing always constructive”
“Jeff is a brilliant man” “Opened my mind to new ideas and helped me to interpret art”
“Highly enlightening...should be offered every semester.. I hope the University would recognize this professor’s ability to teach and inspire. Never before have I been so excited about a class.”
“Gives an incredibly thorough introduction to performance artists. He was able to put their work in a both interesting and historical context from a working performer’s point of view. Assignments were challenging and forced us to dig deeper.”
“If there was ever a class that dramatically changed the way I thought about things, this was it.”
EVALUATIONS BY FACULTY
"Good balance of pragmatic and theoretical commentary...relaxed, informal, yet truly focused sense of artistic exploration in this class."
"Jeff has wonderful rapport with his students…he brings to the teaching of solo performance an extensive first-hand knowledge…the students are fortunate to be benefiting from his experience, and they seem to be aware of their good fortune."
“Prof. McMahon provided students with a superior learning environment. Both the opportunity to see work in NY and the follow up discussion were unique, engaging and substantive. This was a skillfully developed class.”
“In both sections of his class, 100% of the students responded that Prof. McMahon displayed a comprehensive knowledge of the course content and that he always treated students with respect and maintained good interpersonal relations with the class.”
“Prof. McMahon is to be commended for providing a class structure that allows the students to explore individual interests and for his articulate and insightful criticism of their work from the standpoint of the student’s intent and not his own personal taste. Mr. McMahon showed a genuine pleasure working with the students and has succeeded in creating a classroom atmosphere where students are comfortable to exchange ideas and criticisms with each other and the teacher (a learning environment).”
“A well run class which balanced several different needs in a comfortable and well organized way. Each component needed to be present. Jeff has a teaching style which is non threatening. The students appear to value the knowledge and skill he brings to the class. They look to him for insights into their work...Prof. McMahon brings to the university a rich background in performance art and teaching. His presence here is of great value to our students.”
(AND, FROM A FELLOW COLUMBIA GRADUATE)
“I have referred back to several of your old critiques from thesis workshop and am amazed how helpful they are. Often, I see how right they were although I couldn't necessarily see this at the time. You were definitely pushing me in the right direction. All this to say, you're a fine editor.”