Terry Ryan has spent her entire life immersed in art and design. While she began drawing and painting from the moment she could hold the instrument, her preferred forms of artistic expression were always tactile and dimensional – collages and assemblages, sculpture, environments, and textile arts. The need for materials and furnishings for these works of art formed the beginning of her life-long interest in design, furniture, objects, and collecting.

As an art history major at Seton Hall University, Terry became very interested in the decorative arts; but since there was no such course of study available in the United States at the time, she pursued every opportunity to study abroad. She was in the first class to complete Parsons summer program in French decorative arts and architecture at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, and also spent a year studying in London under the auspices of the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the third class to graduate from Christie’s Fine Arts Course.

Her professional life began at Christie’s, New York, where she was appointed associate in the Impressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture department, to be a member of the small team that annually organizes some of the most important fine art auctions in the world. In addition to all the responsibilities involved with researching and mounting these sales, she also assisted clients with building their collections, and bid on their behalf. During those years, to satisfy her interest in the decorative arts as well as her creative side, she decided to try some evening classes in interior design at Parsons. She excelled, and eventually left Christie’s to finish her degree and pursue a career in interior design.

While she was in school, and afterward, Terry worked at the highest levels of the design and construction industry in New York and New Jersey, including NICO Construction Company, Inc; Gensler and Associates/Architects, New York; Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, PC, New York; and ICA Designs in Short Hills, New Jersey. She kept her hand in the art world through consulting.

Realizing that her broad training and experience as both an art historian and an interior designer would allow her to offer a unique and complimentary combination of professional services, Terry launched Ryan Art and Design in 1992. By 1999, it was a full-time concern, with clients in the United States and Europe.

Today, with her company well established, Terry has again taken up her academic interests and is working towards an MA in the history of decorative arts at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.

Terry Ryan is an Allied Member of ASID.