In 1993 Ryder Cooley received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in Sculpture. She then migrated to San Francisco and became a core member of the local art and music scenes. She completed her Masters Degree in Combined Media at SUNY, Albany in June 2006, and entered the Electronic Art MFA Program at RPI in the fall of 2006.

Ryder Cooley has participated in a wide variety of collaborations, public works and educational projects, as well as individual and group shows. Selected exhibitions have included: Contemporary Artist Center/Juried Show in North Adams MA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts/Bay Area Now 3 in San Francisco CA, Intersection for the Arts/Blueprints in San Francisco CA, New Image Arts/Torn Death Memory in Los Angeles CA, Anno Domini Gallery/Shanty Town in San Jose CA, "Sama-Sama" mural exchange in Indonesia, Numero 8 street mural journal (displayed in France, Morocco, Biennale de la image, and other locations in Europe), community arts workshops in El Salvador, and a recent video installation for Brown Bag Contemporary at Photo New York in NYC. She has completed artist residencies at Hambidge Center in Georgia, Jon Sims Center in San Francisco, C.E.S.T.A. in the Czech Republic and The Vermont Studio Center. She is a 2006 recipient of a Belle Foundation Grant and her work will be included in the 2006 Hot and Cold catalogue acquisition at the NY MOMA.