C. Ryan Patterson serves as MSAC’s Public Art Program Director. Ryan has been a part of MSAC’s staff since 2020 when he was hired as the Public Art Project Manager. He temporarily served as Arts Capital Coordinator, helping to develop the Arts Capital Grant program and administering the program through the first two grant cycles. In 2024, he was named Program Director for Public Art. He is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the state’s Percent for Art Commission program, staffing the Maryland Public Art Commission, and administering the Public Art Across Maryland grant programs with the support of Public Art team members.
Raised in South Florida, Ryan also spent formative time growing up in southern Wisconsin and western North Carolina. A lifelong visual artist, he moved to Baltimore in 2002 to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts in General Sculptural Studies at the Maryland Institute of College of Art, where he was also awarded a France Merrick Fellowship and named student leader in Community Arts. Before joining MSAC, Ryan served as a Community Arts Organizer for the Parks & People Foundation, a Community Artist in Residence at the Kentucky School of Art, and a Public Art Administrator for the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.