Pat Boyd has been dedicated to community cultural development and arts education throughout her career in South Dakota. After growing up in Chicago, then starting her family in Eugene, Oregon, Pat had some trepidation about moving to rural South Dakota, but found her new little house on the prairie the perfect place to raise daughters. It was during that time that she joined her first local arts council and became involved in expanding arts education opportunities.
Pat’s involvement with South Dakotans for the Arts (SoDA) began then too, when she became her arts council’s first staff member. She served in various volunteer capacities through SoDA’s Community Arts Network. She moved on to the position of Executive Director of the Oscar Howe Art Center in Mitchell, SD, and was also an original member of the state’s first peer advisory group. Pat moved west to the Black Hills when she joined the SoDA staff as Program Director in 1993. She has been SoDA’s Executive Director since 2001, and is an active member of the Statewide Arts Action Network of Americans for the Arts.