Central High Grad Makes a Splash (and Statement) in DC Art Scene

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Springfield native Christopher Cunetto is making a name for himself in the arts.

Recently featured on the cover of Metro Weekly, a popular DC-based LGBTQ lifestyle magazine, it's fair to say he's the new "it" boy in town.

The rising star might have never pursued art professionally if not for his Central High School teacher Mrs. Brown.

"In eighth grade, I was working on a project and I remember this moment really clearly Mrs. Brown pulled me aside and she said 'Look, you are pretty good at this and you got some talent and if you develop it and you work hard you could do this for living. You could make this your life if you're really passionate about it.'"

It was this passion that led Cunetto to co-create Boys Be Good, an artist collective of gay men in DC. Their recent show, Debitum Naturae, loosely translated to mean the debt of nature, explored the idea of what it meant to spend one's life in repayment to the natural world.

Through drawings, performance art, photography, videos and a magazine, the exhibition was so popular, the opening night was standing room only.

"It's really important to me to build something that will allow people to voice their truth and to really show people what it means to be in gay and lesbian culture and that often the truths are not what politicians would have us believe," Cunetto explained. 

World class institutions like the Smithsonian and a scholarship to the renowned Corcoran College of Art and Design are what lured Cunetto from Springfield to the nation's Capitol.

His ultimate goal with Boys Be Good is to create and foster art that illustrates human moments that bring all people together regardless of their sexuality and political beliefs. 

"It's easier to recognize our commonalities when we are not fighting; it's easier to recognize how we are the same, when we are uniting over emotional things or poetic things. There are issues that gay and lesbian people have in their life as a culture but at our core: alienation, trying to find community, trying to find people who understand you and love you, it's something that we all struggle with," Cunetto said. 

For young artists in Springfield, Cunetto hopes to be an inspiration.

"The reality is that there's a whole world waiting for these young people and the work that I'm doing is hopefully meant to show them what their future can be."

In his own future, Cunetto wants to leave a legacy that speaks to his engagement with the world through his art.

See Also:
Feature in Metro Weekly
Debitum Naturae
Chris' official site