Overton, Patrick

Patrick Overton started his work in community cultural development in 1976 as director of Thespian Hall, the oldest theater in continuous use west of the Allegheny Mountains. Owned by the Friends of Historic Boonville, Overton developed the theater and associated programming as a catalyst to create a Community Arts Program in Boonville, Missouri. During this time, he became involved in state, regional, and national arts organizations. He was the founding President of the Missouri Association of Community Arts Agencies (MACAA), serving as its first Executive Director (1984-1989) and served as Director of the Front Porch Institute. Overton received his Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Missouri where he was a Gregory Fellow and served as a tenured Associate Professor of Communications & Culture Studies at Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri (1987-1999). He also held a Master of Divinity Degree and a Master of Arts in Religion and was an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He devoted his ministry to serving as a bi-vocational pastor to churches in the rural and small community setting.

The papers of Patrick Overton feature content related both to his work in community cultural development–correspondence, his testimony on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts, conference materials, reports–and his work as a minister. Also included are copies of his books, The Leaning Tree and Rebuilding the Front Porch of America.