Vye studied under Barry LeVa and Siah Armajani at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Right out of high school Vye assisted LeVa with the cover piece for the October 1968 Artforum. LeVa was friends with Robert Morris, Carl Andre, Sol Lewitt and the core of the avante garde conceptual sculptors of the early 70's. Vye though, was born in Minnesota and his friends from high school couldn't relate to his new work. Vye chose to rebel against the conceptual avante garde and work to bridge the gap between the avante garde and popular taste. He warned of the conservative attack on the arts long before it happened.