Kurt Wild (1931-2011) American, Ceramic Vase. Floral pattern and lettering across the surface. Signed on base and numbered 12401G. 

Size: 9 x 9 x 12 in. 

Kurt Louis Wild was born on November 22nd, 1931 in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor of Science in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, graduating in 1954. He served the next two years in the U. S. Army, and when he returned he attended Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, where he met and married his wife Ruth, with whom he had four children. He majored in ceramics and graduated in 1960 with his MFA. During this time he also taught high school art and industrial arts in Clarkston, Michigan, and once he obtained his masters he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, teaching with them for the next thirty-three years. 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. Although he retired in 1993 he continued claywork in his home studio in River Falls, and won over twenty-five major prizes and honors for excellence in over sixty exhibitions over the years. His pieces are in private collections all over the world, as well as in permanent exhibitions at the Milwaukee Art Center, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and Southwest State University in Marshall, Minnesota. In early 2011 he was admitted to United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota after suffering a severe bout of pneumonia, and died there after a prolonged battle with its effects on July 12th, 2011. After his passing the Kurt and Ruth Wild Scholarship Fund was set up to provide opportunities to aspiring artists in the Great Lakes area.