Ryan develops interdisciplinary public art projects and programs in partnership with artists, scholars, institutions, and communities. These programs combine the power of care, creative expression, storytelling, research, and civic engagement to nurture connections between people, public histories, and our environment(s). His work has been showcased at museums as well as historic sites, neighborhoods, gardens, transit stations, rivers, cemeteries and storefronts.

Select projects include: nkwiluntàmën: I long for it; I am lonesome for it (such as the sound of a drum) (2023), Philadelphia District Attorney's Office Artist in Residence (2022), Kensington Healing Verse (2021), Boat People (2020), Ghost Ship (2019), Blue Sky or Sky Blue (2018), and Photography Starting at ($2.50) (2017).

Ryan's work has received grants and awards from foundations such as Art for Justice, Arts and Business Council of Philadelphia, City of Philadelphia, Hummingbird Foundation, Neubauer Family Foundation, Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and William Penn Foundation. He has been invited to lecture and lead workshops at the American Institute of Graphic Artists, American Society of Media Photographers, Barnes Foundation, Fleisher Art Memorial, Halide Project, Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia Horticultural Society, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, as well as the University of Pennsylvania, University of the Arts, and the Art Institute of Philadelphia.

Ryan is currently the Senior Director of Creative Development and Partnerships at the Academy of Natural Sciences, a Curatorial Consultant for the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Project Manager at Monument Lab, Lead Host for James Turrell's Skyspace @ Chesnut Hill Friends Meeting, and a member of Philadelphia Contemporary's advisory board, Rising Wing.

In a past life, Ryan worked as a photographer for newspapers and advertising agencies. To view more of that work, please click HERE