Since 1966, he has been on the staff of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland where he is currently Chief Executive. He has lectured at universities and public galleries in the United States on aspects of contemporary Irish art.

He has served on the following committees and boards: British Council Fine Art Committees; Crafts Council of Great Britain International Committee; Visiting Arts Unit of Great Britain; Ulster Museum Fine Art Committee; Alice Berger Hammerschlag Trust; Irish Exhibition of Living Art, GPA Awards for Emerging Artists Arts Centre Board of Queens University Belfast; North-West Arts Centre Board of Queens University, Belfast; North-West Arts Trust; Thomas Dammann Junior Memorial Trust; National Self-Portrait Collection; Burren College of Art Boards and ROSC.

1965, he designed the logo of the Irish American Cultural Institute, 1972, four of his works were reproduced on the covers of the cultural journal Eire Ireland. 1972, he illustrated Lares poems by Michael Longely. 1980, he was commissioner for Northern Ireland at the Paris Biennale in France. 1985, he was commissioner for Ireland at the Sao Paolo bienal in Brazil.

He is an editorial advisor of Irish Arts Review and a Royal Ulster Academician. He organised an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by five artists from Northern Ireland for 1990 Houston International Festival in Texas. This exhibition was subsequently shown in Chicago, Boston and Springfield in Massachusetts, Waxo in Texas and Portland, Indiana.

He organised a USA tour of paintings by Basil Blackshaw in 1996. 1989, he completed three large stained glass windows for a church at St Patricks College, Haghera, County Derry and, in 1990 a mural 10 feet high by 15 feet long for the entrance to St Columbs College Derry. Brian Ferran has been awarded many prestigious awards and has had his worked exhibited widely with more than 12 one-person exhibitions in the U.S.A. alone. His paintings can be found in many major collections in Europe and in America.