Born in Salt Lake City, Kent was a student of J. T. Harwood at the University of Utah between 1921 and 1931. He then went on for further training at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League (with Jean Charlot), in Europe, and at the University of Syracuse from 1936-1939, where he received both MFA and PhD degrees. He taught at Bradley University and the University of Illinois from 1938 to 1944, and at Syracuse from 1944 to 1958; Kent became Director of the Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento, California in 1958, where he served for many years.

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