Kurt Wenner, born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and raised in Santa Barbara, California, produced his first commissioned mural at the age of sixteen and by seventeen was earning his living as a graphic artist. He attended both Rhode Island School of Design and Art Center College of Design. He was employed by NASA as an advanced scientific space illustrator, creating conceptual paintings of future space projects and extra-terrestrial landscapes according to the latest scientific information provided by the Voyager spacecraft.

In 1982, he left NASA and sold his belongings to go to Italy and study art. Living in Rome, Wenner studied the great masters and drew constantly from classical sculptures in the museums. The drawings he made brought him in touch with the language of form in Western figurative art and provided him with the neoclassical training necessary for the style he was pursuing. Through his studies Wenner became particularly interested in the direction for his own artistic expression. He traveled extensively in order to experience firsthand most of the major masterpieces and monuments in Europe. During these first years abroad he experimented with traditional paint media: tempera, fresco, and oil painting. He also executed large permanent works including several altarpieces and a chapel in Puglia (southern Italy) for patrons he met on his travels.