Tyler Vance grew up in northern Utah and was raised on a rich diet of dinosaur fossils, Dungeons and Dragons, science fiction, classical music and heavy metal. These influences helped forge his imagination and they continue to inform his work to this day.

Tyler received his BFA from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in 2006, and his MFA from Utah State University in Logan, Utah in 2009. He continued to teach at USU as an adjunct faculty member until 2012.

Later that year, Tyler and his family relocated to central Massachusetts, where he currently creates at his home studio. He teaches drawing, painting, and art history at Assumption College and other institutions in central Massachusetts.

Specimen 1206, Ockivehm