Ryan Roa was born in 1974 and raised in Tenafly, New Jersey. He attended the University of Arizona in 1993 to study painting. In 1997 he relocated to New York to work as a stockbroker.  In 1999 Ryan left the corporate work force and enrolled in SUNY New Paltz where he studied Art Education and Sculpture.  At this time he decided to join the US Army Reserve.  One semester before Ryan was scheduled to graduate from SUNY New Paltz he was called to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in December of 2002. He served for One Year in Baghdad as a Team Sergeant for a Civil Affairs CAT Team.  Upon his return Ryan completed his degrees with honors and taught high school in Poughkeepsie, NY.  In 2005 he enrolled in the MFA program at Hunter College. 

His work has been exhibited recently at Bronx Museum, Jersey City Museum, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Trinity Museum, School of Visual Arts Museum, Neversink Valley Area Museum, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, NY, Karl and Bertha Leubsdorf Gallery Hunter College, Apexart, and Jamaica Center for the Arts and Learning.  He has participated in residency programs at the Bronx Museum, Gallery Aferro, and Pace University.

Ryan was recently awarded residencies at AIM, Bronx Museum, NY; Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ and Dyson Artist's Residency Program, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY                              
Ryan is currently based in New York City and continues to exhibit throughout the US.

To view more of Ryan's work visit www.ryanroa.com