Dr. Zoë Ryan

Biography

Zoë Ryan is the Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, a role she commenced in November 2020. Prior to this, she served as the John H. Bryan Chair Curator of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ryan's research focuses on the socio-political impact of arts on society, exploring how contemporary design influences public discourse. She has been instrumental in curating significant exhibitions such as 'Cloud, Wall, Chair: Six Modernists Mexico Midcentury' in 2019 and 'Past Forward: Architecture Design Art Institute' from 2017 to the present. In 2015, she co-curated 'Making Place: Architecture David Adjaye' and was the curator for the Istanbul Design Biennial in 2014. In addition to her curatorial work, Ryan has taught graduate seminars in curatorial studies and design history and theory at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also a member of the Design Trust International Advisory Council in Hong Kong and serves on the Executive Committee of the International Confederation of Architecture Museums.

Research Interests

Experience