Saisha Grayson

Curator of Time-Based Media

Saisha Grayson is the curator of time-based media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She joined the museum staff in March 2018. Her responsibilities include research, exhibitions and acquisitions related to the museum’s distinguished collection of time-based media arts. Her research interests include contemporary American art as well as medieval art, film studies, feminist theory and political science. See full staff bio.

Exhibitions

Tuan Andrew Nguyen: The Island

This exhibition of the Tuan Andrew Nguyen's film, The Island, is shown for the first time with Bidong Spirit I, a sculpted headdress that appears in the film.

August 16, 2024 – June 8, 2025
Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass

A presentation of Isaac Julien’s tour de force moving image installation that interweaves period reenactments across five screens to create a vivid picture of nineteenth-century activist, writer, orator, and philosopher Frederick Douglass.

December 8, 2023 – December 6, 2026
Galleries for Modern and Contemporary Art

The Smithsonian American Art Museum's galleries for modern and contemporary art display selections from the permanent collection from the 1940s to the present.

September 22, 2023 – January 31, 2033
Carrie Mae Weems: Looking Forward, Looking Back

This focused exhibition pairs two projects by Carrie Mae Weems—a major multimedia installation and a series of photographs—that revisit moments from history.

September 22, 2023 – July 7, 2024
Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies

Musical Thinking explores the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music.

June 23, 2023 – January 28, 2024

Books

Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies
Exploring the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music, the exhibition Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies features ten leading contemporary artists and the work.

Blog Posts

A Meditation on the Legacy of Frederick Douglass by Artist and Filmmaker Isaac Julien
Sir Isaac Julien’s moving image installation "Lessons of the Hour" interweaves period reenactments across five screens to create a vivid picture of nineteenth-century activist, writer, orator, and philosopher Frederick Douglass.
Discovering the Intersection Between Moving Image and Sound in Video Art
Exhibition invites viewers to discover the intersections and influences of video and sound, through works by some of today’s leading contemporary artists
Exploring the American Psyche with Carrie Mae Weems
On the multimedia installation, Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me, recently acquired by SAAM
Body and Blood in Ana Mendieta’s Filmwork
Learn about the legacy of groundbreaking artist Ana Mendieta and how she examined urgent political, personal, and artistic questions through her artwork
Leslie Thornton and the Art of Surviving
Leslie Thornton’s feminist punk reset of experimental filmmaking’s aims and inclusions tackles issues we still grapple with today.
Virtual Women Filmmakers Festival Inaugurates Women’s History Month at SAAM
Cecila Vicuña, Coco Fusco, and Miriam Ghani address climate change, social justice, and the pandemic
Joan Jonas and the Inner Worlds of Video
The iconic artist's work explores the relation between cameras, screens, media stereotypes and contemporary identity.
World AIDS Day
A blog post to commemorate World AIDS Day, December 1, reflecting on an artwork in our collection.
New Sounds at SAAM
Christine Sun Kim Acquisition adds Sound Art to SAAM’s Collection
Identity and Visibility
How a recent acquisition addresses themes of race and LGBTQ+ identity
Seeing the Rainbow in SAAM’s Collection
Taking a deeper look at how we talk about gay artists at SAAM
Creating Sparks: Five Questions with Lizzie Borden
The groundbreaking director of "Born in Flames" discusses about her work in advance of her talk at SAAM.
Women’s Films, All of Our Futures
Join us at SAAM for the second Women Filmmakers Festival March 6 and 7
Nam June Paik and New Media at SAAM
The "Father of Video Art" takes center stage in a new installation and book.
John Baldessari: An Appreciation
Remembering the influential artist whose video works helped define contemporary art
How Arthur Jafa Created a Contemporary Guernica
SAAM's curator of time-based media examines the importance of a powerful work that speaks to our times...and times past.
Artist Brendan Fernandes On the Dance Floor as a Space for Resistance and Resilience
Dancer/choreographer Brendan Fernandes talks about his work, including Free Fall 49, making its East Coast debut at SAAM on June 9.
Popping (Up) With Pride at SAAM
Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media at SAAM, discusses the pop-up exhibition for the June 9 celebration of Pride.
Beyond Black Boxes and Gender Barriers: A Year of Time-Based Media at SAAM
Curator of Time-Based Media at SAAM talks about upcoming initiatives emphasizing women artists and LGBTQ+ perspectives.
You Are Invited: “Happy Birthday, Nam June Paik”
Curator of New Media, Saisha Grayson, introduces artist Saya Woolfalk who will speak at the Nam June Paik birthday event, July 22, 2018.