Born and raised in Lawrence, DeCunto showed an interest in and a talent for art at an early age. He was completing plein air paintings at 7 years old, and by age 12 his work was being displayed in local places, even selling his first piece for $35—a king’s ransom for a young boy, but that piece would be worth a fortune to collectors today. DeCunto does not shy away from his modest upbringing, noting that he moved out of his family’s home at 15, even living on the streets for a time, before graduating from high school early. It was then that he decided to follow his passion of studying fine art.
After first studying commercial art for a year at Boston’s now closed Vesper George School of Art, DeCunto transferred to the Art Institute of Boston, where he spent a year studying fine art. He also had an apprenticeship with renowned Rockport-based stained-glass artisan Napoleon Setti.
Throughout it all, DeCunto has kept a tether to the Greater Boston area, where we interviewed him in his sun-soaked studio/gallery on South Street in Boston’s Leather District.