Space On Ryder Farm Names Alex Barron Artistic Curator

SPACE on Ryder Farm announced today that Alex Barron will become its first Artistic Curator. An accomplished dramaturg, literary manager and producer, Barron will oversee all artistic programming at SPACE on Ryder Farm - including its residency program and resident writers group,The Working Farm - and will spearhead new artistic projects and programs. Barron will work closely with SPACE's Executive Director Emily Simoness to grow the company's mission while maintaining its commitment to enriching artists and their work.

Co-founder and Executive Director Emily Simoness had this to say about Barron, "From the time I met Alex, it was clear to me that his commitment to artists and his passion for advocating for them and their work is singular. As we continue to pursue our grand vision for Ryder Farm, Alex is the ideal collaborator to ensure that our artistic programming continues to be of the highest caliber. His ingenuity, taste and acute understanding of what an artist needs is unparalleled."

"I've been a friend and champion of SPACE since the first time I set foot on Ryder Farm, three years ago," says Barron. "The farm is simply a magical place. And the company that Emily Simoness has built is extraordinary both in its devotion to artists and in the vitalizing, generative experience it offers them. Emily is one of the most ingenious and dynamic young leaders in the theater world, and I couldn't be more excited to be joining her team."

Barron was previously Literary Manager of The Playwrights Realm, where he developed plays by Lauren Yee, Elizabeth Irwin, Jen Silverman, Lila Rose Kaplan, Amelia Roper, Jason Gray Platt, Bekah Brunstetter and Anton Dudley, among others. Prior to The Playwrights Realm, Barron worked on the literary staff at Manhattan Theatre Club, where he co-curated the company's annual 7@7 Reading Series. Barron has also worked with the literary staff of The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey.

As a dramaturg, Barron has developed work with the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, New York Stage and Film, The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Denver Center, and The Public Theater, among others. He has worked with such playwrights as Dominique Morisseau, Matthew Lopez, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rachel Bonds, Sarah Burgess, Lauren Gunderson and Michele Lowe, among many others.

As a producer, Barron has overseen events at Ars Nova, the Brooklyn Lyceum and the Old Vic Theatre in London. He produces podcasts and other audio content for The New Yorker. And, for several years, he oversaw Naked Radio, a monthly podcast from Naked Angels Theater Company broadcasting new radio plays by some of New York's most exciting playwrights.

He is a program associate with the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and a consultant for Scott Rudin Productions.