received her BA in Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting from University of California, Los Angeles, and then went to receive her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at University of California, Berkeley.  She has exhibited nationally and internationally in museums, galleries as well as non-profit spaces. Ryan has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and the Creative Capital Workshop Grant. She is an Associate Professor of Drawing at Colorado State University and currently lives in Loveland, Colorado.