Painting the Streets in Shades of Purple

Ash Ryan BA ’16 is chasing her dream on the streets and walls of Philadelphia.

Ryan is a street artist and muralist, creating large scale murals in her signature blue, purple and pink palate. One of her most recent murals, a 1,300-square-foot portrait of hip-hop artist Lil Nas X in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood, was featured in Variety and Philadelphia Magazine.

“Once I lost my job due to the pandemic, I wanted to chase my original dream of becoming a muralist,” said Ryan, who previously worked as a floral designer.

During her time at Weber State, Ryan experienced health issues from chronic Lyme disease and found her painting, printmaking and figure drawing classes particularly cathartic. Kathleen “K” Stevenson, visual art and design department chair, was her favorite professor.

“K Stevenson supported me and inspired me to continue creating my lowbrow, dark surrealism art and helped me discover some of my favorite and influential artists,” Ryan said.

Now with the disease in remission, Ryan continues her work as a muralist. One of her latest projects is a 1,100-square-foot mural that consists of nine diverse portraits.

Ash Ryan creating this issue’s cover art on a public art wall in Philadelphia.

Follow her on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok at @asheyeart. She can also be reached at her website, asheyeart.com.