Tanya Gayer is a curator and writer based in Oakland, CA. Her curatorial projects and research examine history-making processes embedded in archives, databases, governmental assimilation efforts, and algorithmic categorizations. She studies the records and stories involved with these institutions to realize the impact they have in forming identity and culture. Gayer received her dual masters degree in Curatorial Practice and Visual + Critical Studies from California College of the Arts and her BFA from University of Nevada, Reno.
Her curatorial projects have been exhibited at Root Division; Hubbell Street Galleries; Sonoma Valley Museum of Art; The Internet Archive; Gray Area; CTRL + SHFT; Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts; Pro Arts Gallery; among others. She has been in residence at Wassaic Project; Picture Berlin; and Signal Culture. Her writing has been published in Daily Serving, in exhibition catalogs associated with CULT Exhibitions; Holland Project; Pro Arts; Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts; among others; and co-produced a one-off audio podcast for a Living Room Light Exchange publication. Gayer has lectured at UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, California College of the Arts, and at the CODAME Art + Tech Festival #ARTOBOT. She is currently the Exhibition Coordinator at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.