K. William Kautz began his artistic training while he was still a young boy. His father, William Charles Kautz was a fine artist in New York and creativity was an important part of his home environment. Kautz remembers sculpting marble beside his dad when he was still a boy. But as a young man, he was often torn between a drive to be creative, and a desire to do something for the vulnerable in society.

In 1980 Kautz entered seminary and earned an M.A. in Theology and Ethics and was later appointed as a Research Fellow at Yale University. In 1985 he began full-time law school with a young family and no money. At the same time he began to carve. Initially, he hoped merely to pay a few tuition bills with whatever he could earn from his art but within a few weeks his designs began to sell as quickly as he could produce them.

As a first year law student Kautz would study by day and carve by night. Three years later, he completed law school and passed the Vermont bar exam. For the next ten years, Kautz maintained a volunteer law practice for victims of domestic violence while supporting his family with his art.

Through the years, Kautz has sold his work to numerous galleries and collectors around the world. His art has been displayed at the Museum of American Folk Art, the Shelburne Museum, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He has been chosen by Early American Life magazine for its annual Directory of Traditional American Crafts, and is a juried member of traditionalfolkart.com.

K. William Kautz has been selected for the following Directories: