Judy Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Boston University. Ms Ryan also received atelier training in portrait, figure and cast drawing at the Guild of Boston Artists and Fenway Studios in Boston.
Ms Ryan has extensive teaching experience in adult art instruction and has taught at many educational institutions and museums in Massachusetts, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston University, De Cordova Museum in Lincoln, the Worcester Art Museum, Brookline Arts Center, Newton Arts Center, Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Emerson Umbrella for the Artis in Concord and Concord Continuing Education.
While teaching at the Worcester Art Museum, she received the Frances A. Kinnicutt Foreign Travel Award administered through the Worcester Art Museum. Ms Ryan also received an Artist Support Grant administered through the Somerville Arts Council while working as an artist in Somerville, MA.
Ms Ryan also has many years of art conservation experience of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional art. She also had the opportunity to paint several murals for Legal Seafood Restaurant located in Copley Square in Boston.
In 2001, Ms Ryan founded Provence for Painters, where she conducts two plein-air painting workshops a year in Provence, France.
In 1996, Ms Ryan was accepted as a member of the historic artist cooperative of Fenway Studios in Boston where she lives, works and teaches studio art classes. She was accepted as a member of the North Shore Art Association while living in Gloucester. Ms Ryan has served on the Board of the Fenway Alliance in Boston and has served on the Board of Directors of Fenway Studios for twelve years. She is currently the president of Fenway Studios.