“I want my works to capture the spirit and emotion of the subject by using splashes of color. I embrace painting because of its unpredictability.  It is the accident, the unforeseen which by chance can be pursued, and elevates the work from the ordinary to the magical.  Through this process of painting, I transcend into a higher spiritual plain.”

At age 19, Michael enrolled at Rowan University and earned a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art.  He went on to complete a Masters Degree in Museum Management at Seton Hall University and a Graduate Certificate in Arts Administration.  He worked as a professional photographer during his schooling, helped developed his career as a serious painter.

Michael has been instrumental in creating the Glasstown Center Arts District and the Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts in Millville, NJ.  He served as the Executive Director of the Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts from 2000-2006. Currently, Michael is the Executive Director of The Noyes Museum of Art (www.noyesmuseum.org). Michael serves as an adjunct professor at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and Cumberland County Community College.

Michael has become an accomplished artist early in his career.  He is the cheerful witness of everyday life, and his paintings make us yearn to return to that special place.  Cagno is a colorist. By directly going to the essential he avoids creating easy effects to obtain the maximum emotional response.  There is a compulsion to paint, to capture the mood, to render the impression and convey the pleasure he has in that moment of activity.  For Cagno, painting is about the process and the pleasure associated with the creative spirit.

Today, Michael lives in Vineland, NJ with his wife Natalie and three children, Kristina, Isabella and Michael.
Photograph by Bill Horin.