Kurt Wild was born (November 22, 1931) and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where in 1954, he received his Bachelor of Science in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956 and from there went on to teach high school art and industrial arts from 1956 to 1958 in Clarkston, Michigan.

"I was not the world's best student. I was one of those who took all the shop classes in high school. Those are usually the guys who don't want to study too much."

Kurt attended Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan from 1958 to 1960 majoring in ceramics under Maija Grotell. His minor was jewelry and metalwork. He received his M.F.A. from Cranbrook in 1960 and the same year he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He was hired to help implement the then newly approved (1958) art major. Among his responsibilities were the setting up of the first clay and metal studios at UWRF. During the course of his first year he taught Intro to Art, Design, Advanced Crafts, Ceramics, Jewelry, and Metalcraft. He was the jewelry/metal instructor for seven years and claywork instructor of all his 33 years. During his tenure he also taught undergraduate clay workshops at Pigeon Lake Field Station for 16 years and Elderhostel for eight years.

By 1970, he had risen quickly from instructor to full professor. He served as chairman of the Art Department from 1967 to 1970 when he was appointed Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He held that position until 1974 when he returned to full-time teaching. He retired from UW-River Falls at the end of June 1993 but continues with his claywork (low fired polished blackware, reduction fired stoneware and salt glazed stoneware) in his home studio.

Some of his achievements and recognition include three university grants, a faculty sabbatical leave grant, and he was named "Outstanding Teacher of the Year in the Humanities for 1991". Kurt made a considerable contribution to the University of Wisconsin - River Falls since his arrival in 1960. He's been a dear friend to many in the university and has provided colleagues as well as students with an exciting, educational, and insightful professional model. The Art department was quite small (only three members) when he arrived. He was instrumental in the development of the structure of the department and the implementation of the fine arts major. Later on he helped create Gallery 101.

He is highly regarded for his abilities as a teacher and his honesty in working with students. A special accomplishment of Kurt's was the summer program at Pigeon Lake Field Station where over several years, thousands of individuals had the opportunity for unique clay firing experiences as well as the chance to participate in an increasing array of art classes and workshops. Kurt had full administrative responsibility for this program. He recruited excellent instructors and provided hands-on instruction (practically around the clock) for his own students.

He has won over twenty-five prizes or honors for excellence in over sixty juried or invitational exhibitions. His clay work is included in many private collections in this country and abroad as well as the permanent collections of the Milwaukee Art Center, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and Southwest State University, Marshall, Minnesota. He has been a guest artist-speaker and exhibition juror on numerous occasions. He has written for Ceramics Monthly magazine and Leon Nigrosh's book Low Fire, wherein his unique blackware firing process and drum kiln are described, along with photographs of his work.

The late Dorothy Adlow, art critic for the Christian Science Monitor, described him as a "man with imagination, discrimination and true talent."