Alex Poots

Alexander Moinet Poots is an arts and cultural leader who has built major new organizations from the ground up and who has inspired established organizations to reshape their familiar approaches into more innovative, popular and culturally democratic programs. In 2015 he was appointed the founding artistic director and chief executive of The Shed in New York City, a pioneering cultural institution that opened in 2019. Prior to this, Poots was the founding artistic director and chief executive of the Manchester International Festival (2005–2015) and the founding artistic director of New York's Park Avenue Armory (2012–2015), establishing a reputation for producing and presenting artist-led, inventive, interdisciplinary new works and programs.

Early life and education Poots was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a French mother and Irish father. He developed an early passion for music, particularly the trumpet and composition. 2015: CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 2015 for services to the arts 2024: Honorary Doctorate for services to arts from Edinburgh Napier University

Personal life Poots is married to Dr. Kathryn Spellman-Poots, an American sociology professor and author at Columbia University. The couple have two children and live in New York City