Community mural project conceived of and facilitated by Ryder with Time and Space Limited, a non-profit arts center in Hudson, NY. Youth and community members were invited to paint individual wooden leaves which were attached to painted trees. July-Dec. 2010 (to be continued when the snow melts). Special thanks to Linda Mussman, Bonnie Scott Jones, Barbara Cooley, Wendy Frost & John Cooley,

The End Will Come, mural, collaboration with Lena Wolff, Clarion Alley Mural Project, San Francisco, CA. 15 x 25 feet, 2005-2009.

Wish Garden, Community Garden Project. Public participants were invited to make a wish as they planted flowers in the garden. Sanctuary for Independent Media, Troy, NY. 2007-2008.

In 2005-2006 I created a street performance series at the NY State Capital, Albany, NY, in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. The central figure, Vigil Deer, is an antlered doe who is clothed in red to symbolize blood. This project stemmed from research into hermaphrodite deer (antlered doe & velvet horns), who are known to live peacefully in alternative deer communities.

In 2003 six San Francisco artists from the Clarion Alley Mural Project traveled to Indonesia to paint murals and collaborate with a group of contemporary Indonesian Artists. This mural, Captive Hearts Fly Free, was designed and painted by Ryder Cooley with the support of Arya Panjalu, Alicia McCarthy and the Apotik Komik Collective. The title is written in both english and bahasa (Tawanan Hati Terbang Bebas)The mural occupies four sides of an electricity unit built during the Dutch occupation. Wooden birds fly in the rafters and real cages hung from the roof of this work. The imagry references third-world first-world tensions and questions notions of freedom and captivity. www.samasama-yourewelcome.com

Apparitions, Serenades for Tabor. Veiled serenades in a feathered gown are performed at significant architectural sites throughout the town of Tabor, Czech Republic. Created during a residency at Cesta Art Center.

Passage To the Netherworlds, 14ft mural painted with Lena Wolff at Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA 2005. (photos of mural in progress).