Patrick Doyle was born in 1951 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has been involved in the Hudson area since the 1980s as a civic activist, performer, artist, and industrial building restorer. He was the owner of Basilica Industria (known today as Basilica Hudson) from 2000 - 2010. 

Patrick begins his interview by describing formative childhood experiences, which include living in Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and his early awareness of fairies and nature spirits. Throughout his interview, Patrick talks about several performances (“urban spectacles”) he made throughout his career with themes relating to these early experiences. He also talks about his love of reading, and a scuba diving trip in his twenties which inspired him to become a ballet dancer. 

Patrick moved to Sullivan County, New York in the 1980s. He purchased the building currently known as Basilica Hudson in 2000 and began work to restore the building into an experimental art space. Patrick discusses the history of the building, which had previously been a paper railroad wheel factory, knitting mill, and glue factory. He narrates the process of preparing and restoring the building, which involved washing rabbit glue from its interior with soap and water. Patrick speaks about several events that took place at Basilica Industria during his years as owner, including a Patti Smith concert in 2003; a New Year’s Eve fundraiser for local community radio station WGXC in 2009; and a Michaelmas festival in collaboration with Camphill. 

After selling the building to Bill Stone, Nancy Barber, Tony Stone, and Melissa Auf der Maur in 2010, Patrick taught as a Waldorf instructor in Pennsylvania for several years and returned to New York in 2017. He describes an Imbolc festival held at Basilica in 2019, which would be his final performance there. Patrick concludes his interview with appreciation for his wife, Catherine Dodge Smith, and his daughter, Dodge; and proposes community as the hope for the future of humanity. 

This interview may be of interest to those looking to learn more about the history of Basilica Hudson; performance art and theater; Waldorf festival celebrations; and the development and restoration of industrial buildings.