糖心传媒

The connection forged with Briar through art made Ryan wonder if he could take teaching beyond his kitchen table. But to do that, he knew he had to find a way to get an education from his kitchen table.

鈥淚 always had a decent way of explaining,鈥� Wosleger says of his 2023 epiphany. 鈥淚 had the light bulb moment of thinking art and education would be a great path forward.鈥�

Now completing his second year in the online at the 糖心传媒 Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences, Wosleger has officially abandoned the life of assessing risk for insurance applicants by taking a risk of his own. He鈥檚 halfway toward reinvention from insurance underwriter to art teacher.

鈥淩yan is a model student in our program,鈥� said Courtney Weida, EdD, professor and director of the MA in Art Education Program, 鈥渆ngaging deeply with parenting and art making.鈥�

The Decision to Chart a New Course

While art had always played a role in Wosleger鈥檚 world, the Massapequa Park, New York, resident began to elevate its rank in the fall of 2021 when Briar was feeling homesick at nursery school. To cheer her up, Wosleger began drawing bubble letters, cartoons and whimsical creatures on the plain brown bags that held her daily snack. To his surprise, Briar started bringing the artsy sacks home, crumpled and crumb-filled, but cherished, nonetheless. As Briar鈥檚 days brightened, the bags also began to fill the blank canvas of Wosleger鈥檚 artistic potential.

鈥淚f my daughter didn鈥檛 throw them out,鈥� Wosleger reasoned, 鈥渢hat meant something.鈥�

As Briar eagerly anticipated what magical design would materialize on the next bag, her dad began to question whether he was happy outside of his life as a father and husband. The grind of corporate America was weighing on him, and the daily drawings became Wosleger鈥檚 refuge. Lifted by the reaction to his flourishes of personified fruit, dancing french fries, goofy dinosaurs and more, Wosleger publicly launched his art in September 2023 under the Instagram handle 鈥�.鈥�

Wosleger鈥檚 story and his brown-bag artistry have captured the attention of the media. In the fall of 2025, he was featured in segments on and .

In addition to bridging home and school, the snack bags began to commemorate family milestones. When Ryan and his wife, Brittany, surprised Briar with tickets to Radio City Music Hall, her bag featured a Rockette. When the surprise was a trip to Disney World, Mickey Mouse and friends served as harbingers. And when Briar asked her dad how to draw the enchanted images, Wosleger鈥檚 reinvention took further shape. Within a week of teaching her the crosshatching technique, the underside of finished art that suggests form, Briar began to grasp the skill.

The idea of a mid-career transition was familiar to Wosleger, whose mother became a math educator at age 38. But that didn鈥檛 mean it wasn鈥檛 scary. Pushing 40, Wosleger feared putting his family in financial jeopardy, but also recognized he had to make a change.

鈥淲hat I was most scared of was, 鈥榃ill I leave a legacy? Will I leave this planet happy?鈥欌�� he recalls.

Finding a Fit at Adelphi

With Brittany鈥檚 support and his it鈥檚-never-too-late attitude, Wosleger discovered the online art education graduate program at Adelphi and assembled his portfolio. He soon embraced the flexible schedule, which allows him to balance his infant daughter鈥檚 nap routine with completing his courses at a pace that makes sense for his family. His professors even reached out when Wosleger was in the hospital for his daughter Cambell鈥檚 birth to offer congratulations鈥攁nd extended deadlines.

鈥淎delphi,鈥� he says, 鈥渉as given me the tools and the resources to push myself into the world of education.鈥�

Recently, Wosleger got his first taste of full-time teaching at shortly after resigning from his insurance job in June. His newfound confidence has been transformational. As an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, Wosleger studied graphic design but convinced himself it wasn鈥檛 a viable path. He鈥檚 proud of the courage it took to finally trade his insurance cohort for Spider-Man, Moana and boba-drinking axolotls. This fall, Wosleger is completing his slate of online classes in preparation for his student teaching. And he鈥檚 launched a series of 鈥淎rt of SnackBagN鈥� events at local libraries, where he shows children the basics of his craft.

Wosleger also has discovered a community of like-minded paper bag creatives. There鈥檚 the husband-wife duo 鈥�,鈥� who introduced him to the group, and 鈥�,鈥� to whom Wosleger refers as the 鈥淵oda of snack bag dads.鈥� That fellow artist reminded him what鈥檚 at the heart of his artistic renaissance.

鈥淗e said, 鈥楩ocus on what鈥檚 really meaningful鈥攎aking your kids happy.鈥欌��