Born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Bill began his art career early in life. As a child, he was in ill health and was often housebound. He began to copy the covers of LOOK and LIFE magazines on typing paper in pencil at the age of eight. By nine the Brooklyn Public Library (Flatbush Branch) allowed him to display his realistic portraits for over six months. Encouraged by family and teachers he continued to grow as an artist through high school, producing dozens of portraits and 40+ canvases in acrylic. He went to Nazareth High School from 1972-1975 and met Maria Loccisano at Bishop Kearney High School in 1974. She is a rare person who seems to understand the eccentricities that come with a creative mind. They were married in 1980 and are still an item today.

He attended St. John’s Univ. (Queens) where he honed his skills and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts. He had one-man exhibits at St. John’s, Columbia Univ., the Gross Gallery, Queens, and took part in many more in the metropolitan area. After college, he found a job as a graphic journalist at the New York World Headquarters of the Associated Press where he published his news-related art and stories in over 8,500 periodicals, worldwide, daily.

He retired after a 35-year career. Prof. Castello currently teaches Communication Arts at St. John’s University in New York City. He has turned much of his effort to perfecting his personal art and produced over a dozen new portraits on canvas including Fr. Vincent Capodanno, Steven Siller, and the portrait of Garibaldi and Meucci on permanent loan to the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum. He also produced thousands of pencil/graphite-on-tan paper portraits. Many of these were featured at the GMM.

During the COVID-19 quarantine, he took on a project to honor the influential men and women who shaped our nation’s music over the last century. The entire collection of over 2,000 portraits is continually growing and represents American music from its beginnings through the newest stars on the horizon. Prof. William John Castello is currently the artist-in-residence and contributor to the GMM. He has researched, written, and curated all the current historical exhibits in our museum. He currently produces and sells prints of his art, creates art by contract, and privately teaches art as therapy.