Marty Ryan graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY with a degree in Industrial Design. After graduation, she moved to the Columbia Valley, where she was a high school art teacher and counsellor for more than 25 years. She also raised three sons (and has been rewarded with five grandchildren.)
She had always been a painter, and moved into working with bronze, and then copper, in the 1990s. She is currently busy painting, along with offering workshops in copper etching.
Marty collaborated with Columbia Valley ceramicist Jane Doel to create The Embodiment Project, which was exhibited in select spots in BC and Alberta. A series of cast female torsos on poles, The Embodiment Project commemorated the murdered and missing women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and those of the Highway of Tears in north central BC.
Marty spends most of her time in her Parson studio, overlooking her beloved Columbia Valley wetlands, and next to her chicken coop. She lives in her nearby off-the-grid house with her husband.