Thomas Contino
Thomas Contino of Henderson is putting the finishing touches on the college’s newest mural in Nevaldine Hall South. Tom is a prolific painter in the Graphic and Multimedia Design program and an avid musician.
“I have a variety of interests and have found it difficult to figure out how to build a career while pursuing my passions in art and music. I first got an Associate of Applied Science Degree from Onondaga Community College, majoring in music performance. From there I planned to continue my education at SUNY Fredonia, majoring in music therapy. My first semester showed me that this wasn't the program for me, and I took some time away from college to work part time jobs by day while playing music by night with a variety of cover bands. During this time, I also worked on developing my skills in visual arts and started to seriously pursue marketing my artwork. Eventually, I decided that I needed to go back to school to challenge myself to learn new ideas and skills, as well as building my professional network. I chose to pursue a bachelor's degree in graphic design because it allows me to take all my many interests and combine them into a career path.”
Tom’s next steps will be to get a job in graphic design and to continue developing his art and music ventures. “I am uncompromising in my pursuit of freedom, creative expression, and community,” he said.