FRIDAY, NOV. 7
FALL 2025 | ISSUE 8 WHAT’S INSIDE:
SPORTS
Mens hockey dominates on costume night
OPINION
Trumps third term talk sets bad precedent
Cardinal Creative: Brayden Munn Munn builds his future through experimentation in painting and music BY ADAM BLANCHARD Staff Writer
Not all artists know what path they wanted to take since childhood, even if their influences have always been present. While growing up in Bloomingdale, Junior at SUNY Plattsburgh Brayden Munn’s uncle was a cartoonist, featured in the New Yorker magazine. His grandfather would leave a lasting impact on Munn. “He was actually a helicopter paramedic,” Munn said. “But he was a super talented artist. He was a musician, too.” Seemingly following in his grandfather’s footsteps, Munn would also learn to play multiple instruments prior to discovering his love for art. Having taught himself to play the drums and taking piano lessons for over 10 years, Munn began to love the arts. He explored other media, finding a passion in portraits, specifically caricatures. Having experimented with many different materials like graphite, charcoal and acrylic paint, Munn would find oil paint to be the most pleasing to use. “I used to do grotesque, cartoon sort of portraits,” Munn said. “And now it’s transitioned to where I’m ADAM BLANCHARD/Cardinal Points doing realism portraits.” In addition to being musically inclined and artis- Brayden Munn stands in front of his artwork in the painting studio in the Myers Fine Arts Building. tically trained, Munn let his creative mind run wild Munn avoids doing sketches as well, preferring to go In the future, Munn aims to be a gallery artist, but he and had created a language system inspired by J.R.R. straight into the painting process. Munn’s choice of me- is not averse to becoming a teacher in the future. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” dium leaves room for mistakes to be fixed as he paints. “I’ve got lots of family that are teachers, so I’m not Munn had not always thought about pursuing art as “Because of the way that I work, I have a lot of room opposed to teaching, that’s what I was originally plana career, but only decided after Susan Hoffer, an ad- to make mistakes and the oil paint is pretty forgiv- ning to do,” Munn said. junct professor at North Country Community College, ing,” Munn said. “And at the end of the day, I’m still Having discovered his love for art so recently, Munn recommended him to come to SUNY Plattsburgh. gonna learn from it.” said that he encourages others to reach for their “I started at North Country actually, and I was studyMuch of Munn’s inspiration is drawn from the old dreams. He hopes that others welcome the gift of art ing to be a teacher, not even art,” Munn said. “And masters of art. He is deliberate in his art style, making into their lives and get the most out of it. even before that, I was trying to be a music major.” his works reminiscent of older pieces. John Singer Sar“I think anybody could be a creative,” Munn said. Now having studied art for over a year collegiately, gent is his favorite artist. “They just have to entertain whether they want art in Munn has refined his craft developing a unique apMunn is working on a series focusing on people their life or not.” proach to painting that saves him time. and their most valued possessions. He uses diptychs, “I’ll set up a scene or I’ll find a scene, but usually I’ll set a style of painting that uses two canvases, in order to things up so that I can be intentional,” Munn said. “I’ll draw attention to the two subjects. Munn submitted take a good photo with a digital camera, and then I like one of the pieces to the Best of SUNY Art Exhibition in to project the photo onto my canvas. I could draw it on Albany in hopes of having it displayed and recognized. there, sort of traditionally. I could use a grid method, I “The separation is what is supposed to drive the Email ADAM BLANCHARD could go free hand, but I found, sort of through trial and message home,” Munn said. cp@cardinalpointsonline.com error, there’s really no shame in using the projector.”
Student Association
SA swears in 3 new members to open positions
BY GRANT TERWILLIGER News Editor
The Student Association approved students for Public Relations, Associate Justice and representatives for many different boards in the senate meeting Oct. 29. Sophomore sociology major Catherine Acosta was voted in as the coordinator of public relations in a unanimous senate vote. Acosta’s prior experience in public relations comes from high school, where she decided to make a club as a place for students to stay engaged and have somewhere to go to socialize. “I decided, with a couple friends, to make a sort of safe place for people,” Acosta said. “We coordinated with staff and we made event signs and flyers and we went around advocating.” Acosta said that she is looking forward to working with the SA and bringing more visibility to the association. Acosta said that she has never worked with a group as large as the SA, but is looking forward to learning more. “I feel like I am the most open person I know to just learning and hearing people well and listening. I know that everybody here has more experience than me, and so I’m more than grateful to just hear what everybody has to say and receive everybody’s advice,” Acosta said. First year Lila Degracia is a first generation student looking forward to majoring in Political Science in the near future. Degracia was approved as associate justice in a unanimous senate vote. “I want to major in political science. The associate justice job within the student government would help me have a lot more experience for my future, and hopefully when I become a person of law,” Degracia said.
Finance major Jean Paul Weekes was unanimously approved as a student representative for the finance board. Weekes is a part of the American Marketing Association and said that he is excited to learn more about his position and gain more professional experience. “I’m looking to get some more experience in general in the finance world in terms of money management,” Weekes said. “I think I give good insight and the multiple meetings I’ve been to for the Finance Board, I was able to help them form decisions on other clubs and how to spend their money.” Shana Wright was approved as a Student Representative for the Activities board in a unanimous vote. Wright has been interested in bringing activities to schools since high school and looks forward to doing the same as a student representative. “I started the senior association to bring activities for seniors because we didn’t really get a lot of activities or get to do cool things at school,” Wright said. “I used to do fundraisers to raise money for activities like the senior trip.”
SA MEETINGS Senate meetings are open to attend and are held Wednesdays at 8:30 in the ACC. ANYA KERN/Cardinal Points
Email GRANT TERWILLIGER Student Association Senators vote on Oct. 29. cp@cardinalpointsonline.com