Alfred James Wands was born in Cleveland, Ohio on February 19, 1904. Raised in Cleveland, he graduated from the Cleveland Art Institute with honors. He then spent time in Paris, France studying at the Academie Julian. He also studied in Brussels, Munich, and at Western Reserve University. After his travels in Europe he returned to teach at the Cleveland Art Institute and the Cleveland Museum of Art. During this period he had multiple works accepted into the Carnegie Institute's International Exhibits.

Three years after this time period, he and his wife Dorothy, moved to Denver, Colorado where he became the Head of the Art Department of Colorado Women's College. He taught there for seventeen years. A few years after moving to Denver ...