Celebrating remarkable people who got their start right here in the Queen City.

Steven Coppola- Born: May 22, 1984

From the West Side Rowing Club to the Olympics 

Steven Coppola picked up an oar for the first time at a West Side Rowing Club “Learn-to-Row” camp in 1998 while attending Canisius High School — and never looked back. By the time he graduated in 2002, he had become the most accomplished rower in his school’s history, winning multiple Scholastic National Rowing Championships. He took that foundation all the way to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he earned a bronze medal and brought a moment of genuine international glory back to Buffalo. 

Giving Back to the Sport 

After his competitive career, Coppola turned his focus to coaching, currently serving as the Head Women’s Rowing Coach at Cornell University. His

journey from a Buffalo kid learning to row on the Niagara River to an Olympic medalist mentoring the next generation is exactly the kind of story the Queen City loves to tell.

Cory Arcangel- Born: May 25, 1978 

Where Technology Meets Art

Cory Arcangel grew up in Buffalo attending Nichols School, where his curiosity about technology and art was sparked — in part by the experimental video work he encountered at the Squeaky Wheel Buffalo Media Arts Center. He went on to become one of the most celebrated digital artists of his generation, best known for Super Mario Clouds (2002), in which he hacked a Super Mario Bros. cartridge to display nothing but the game’s scrolling clouds against a blue sky — a minimalist meditation on nostalgia, technology, and the passage of time that became a landmark of new media art. 

A Buffalo Original 

Arcangel’s work — playful, conceptually sharp, and rooted in pop culture — has been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world. He has

lived in Stavanger, Norway, but Buffalo’s creative spirit runs through everything he makes. In a city that has always rewarded ingenuity, Arcangel is the digital age’s answer to that tradition.

Kristen Pfaff- Born: May 26, 1967

Kristen Pfaff was born and raised in Buffalo, where she studied classical piano and cello before graduating from the Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart in 1985. She taught herself bass guitar while living in Minnesota, and in 1993 joined Hole at a pivotal moment — just as the band was about to record Live Through This, one of the defining albums of the grunge era. Her musicianship added depth and dimension to tracks like “Miss World” and “Violet,” and her presence in the band’s creative circle was felt immediately and deeply.

A Flame That Still Burns 

Kristen Pfaff passed away on June 16, 1994, at just 27 years old, weeks after Live Through This was released to widespread critical acclaim. Her loss was a devastating blow to alternative rock, but her contributions to that album — 

and to the music of her era — have never faded. For Buffalo, she remains a symbol of raw talent, artistic courage, and the kind of spirit the city has always produced.

Louis Mustillo- Born: May 28, 1958

From Buffalo to The Sopranos and Beyond 

Louis Mustillo was born and raised in Buffalo before honing his craft at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1983. He built a career defined by memorable character work — perhaps most recognizable as Sal

Vitro, Tony Soprano’s hapless gardener on The Sopranos, and as the lovably eccentric Vince Moranto on CBS’s Mike & Molly, a role he played for all six seasons of the show’s run from 2010 to 2016. 

Playwright and Performer Beyond television, Mustillo is also a gifted playwright and solo performer. His one-man show Bartenders ran for a full year at the John Houseman Theatre in New York City, earning critical praise and demonstrating that his Buffalo-bred work ethic and storytelling instincts translate just as powerfully on stage as on screen. A true Queen City original.