John De Vincenzi was born in San José in 1921. He married Lonnie Santina in 1943 and they had two children. Vincenzi also served in World War II. He received a Bachelor's degree from San José State College in 1949, an MA degree from Stanford in 1950, and in 1950 he became an art instructor at San José State College. He was promoted to full Professor in 1969; a position he held until his retirement in 1991. During his career, he achieved high honors as an artist. He was the first artist in residence at Santa Clara's Triton Museum, and was knighted by the Republic of Italy. De Vincenzi became chair of the Gallery Advisory Committee to the San José Fine Arts Commission in November, 1965. Under De Vincenzi's leadership, the advisory committee carried out the planning process for the proposed conversion of a San José public library building into a city art gallery. The City Council approved the committee report in February of 1969 and the San José Civic Gallery opened on September 19, 1971. De Vincenzi remained active on the advisory committee until September of 1972. He was instrumental in the formation of the Civic Gallery Association, and also helped assemble the gallery's first permanent collection--a group of 40 works donated by local artists.