Sculptor rediscovering himself

Abandoned by the previous teacher who could not deal with rowdy students, Ian McMahon walked into the torn-up classroom of a Baltimore inner-city elementary school.

McMahon faced the challenge of being the only art teacher for 580 students some of whom had been coloring for two months. At this point, McMahon realized he had to backtrack and re-teach students the art skills they were missing.

“Positive reinforcement was the only way to get through to those students who (for) their whole life got yelled at and punished,” McMahon said.

Friend and collaborator Marc DeBernardis believed it was McMahon’s ability to communicate with others that made him a first-rate candidate for the teaching job.

“Unless you can talk to these kids and get on their level, they’re not going to treat you with more respect (than) they treat anyone else,” DeBernadis said. “Ian had to bring something they had never seen before and try to make them interested.”

McMahon – now a first year graduate student in the sculpture department – is no longer trying to capture children’s attentions, but the art community’s.
McMahon started gaining this attention three years ago by entering the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference in Portland, Ore. with DeBernadis and two other friends.

McMahon was proud of the group for being driven enough to make the NCECA happen since it was labor intensive and required money out of their own pockets.

“We were building pieces that people out of undergrad wouldn’t do because each piece took a month to install and a month to tear down,” McMahon said.

DeBernadis fondly recalled their two-month stay in Oregon saying the group’s ragged looks had bystanders thinking they were construction workers, not artists.

“We felt like a bit of a band,” DeBernadis said. “We worked non-stop and once we set up, all we needed was a place to crash.”

Both DeBernadis and McMahon agree shows like the NCECA helped them acquire more opportunities to display their work, since new shows have come out of previous ones.

Aside from displaying his work, McMahon left his comfort zone of working with clay, wood and metal, and started experimenting with new materials such as plaster, drywall, foam and plastic.

McMahon is looking forward to growing as an artist over the next couple of years.

“I want to come out of here with not only a strong body of work, but really try to get much better at writing and representing myself,” McMahon said.

Each week, the Spectrum Section selects a talented student from the School of the Arts (music, dance, theater and visual) and showcases his or her achievements both in and around the VCU community. Do you want your name and work in the CT? E-mail Spectrum@Commonwealthtimes.com for consideration.