Many students have seen the posters for the Summer Arts Program, but most do not know about the coordinators that will be teaching at this special event. John Mayer, Chair of the Theater Arts Department at California State University, Stanislaus, will be enticing laughter from the people of Fresno, by teaching students about the art of improvisation by way of Chicago from July 12-25.

Mayer has been a professor for 16 years, a coordinator for the summer arts program for seven years, and he loves to teach.

“I believe there is no environment as vital as the summer arts program for students,â€Â Mayer said. On a personal note, the summer arts program allows him to bring his two passions, teaching and acting, together in one place.

The class is geared to the study of the fundamental processes of improvisation. The actor will get an introduction to a variety of long-form improvisational methods that are the root of some Chicago theaters, such as ImprovOlympic Theatre and The Second City Theater.

Teaching this class is quite easy for Mayer because he is a native Chicagoan. “I studied acting, both improvisation and street acting, and I learned through acting, but school was very important in my progression,â€Â Mayer said.

This passion for education is why Mayer likes the program. “I believe that the summer arts program is one of the best things that has happened for the CSU system and it is an honor to be a part of it.â€Â

Mayer has enough true faith in the teaching of program that his son will be a student of the program this summer. “I have a pretty movable family, and my son is actually coming to the summer arts program this summer,â€Â Mayer said.

His time in Chicago allowed Mayer to create personal relationships with the artists he now invites to the program. Mayer said that it is pretty easy for him to get the performers to come to the program.

“The artists want to come back after they have been to the program once because of how special it is,â€Â Mayer said.

Mayer always stays in the dorms with some other professors and the students when he is teaching at the program. “We are in class for 10 hours a day, but always talking outside of class. The classes are four hours in the morning, an hour and a half for lunch, three hours of class, two hours for dinner and then three more hours of class until the end at 10 p.m.â€Â Mayer said.

“Staying in the dorms allows for direct interaction with the students and classes may end at 10 in the evening, but we’re always talking with the students and performers. It is an important part and interaction of the program,â€Â Mayer said.

By Jimmy McCue and Sarah Kain /The Collegian