30 Years Bring Good Friends and Good Memories

“When I think about 30 years, I think it can’t be, because I can’t be that old,” Patt Slack said with a laugh. “But then, I realize I am that old. And that’s OK. I made it.”

Saying Slack made it might be the understatement of the year. As the owner of , she heads up one of the most important galleries in Michigan.

A Wyandotte native herself, the 1966 graduate of St. Patrick’s High School left town shortly after graduating.  She spent a long time traveling and learning about art. It was during that time she met her husband, a New Jersey native.  When it came time to settle down and start a family, though, there was only one choice.

“I’ve been all over and lived a lot of places, but Wyandotte has always been home and it always will be,” Slack said.

It’s a bit ironic, as well, that coincided with the 50th anniversary of the because Slack said the reason she started an art-based business in Wyandotte was because of the fair.

“You have to remember, 30 years ago not every community had an art fair," she said. "There was Ann Arbor and Wyandotte. They were unusual."

For that reason, she said the street fair always brings about a flood of memories. It’s a time when old friends–some from as long ago as grade school–stop by to say hello. It’s a time to remember some of the great artists who have been a part of the gallery over the years. And it’s a time to think about three decades in Wyandotte and how the gallery has become more than she ever anticipated.

“I guess I get nostalgic, but it’s mostly happy,” Slack said. “When I think about the absolute quality of art and artists who have been here, it’s more than I could have ever hoped for.”

To be sure, the gallery has come a long way since its beginning as a small studio on Eureka Road. A year after its opening, the Slacks moved the gallery to its longtime home on the east side of Biddle next to the former Sawmill furniture store. Then, about 10 years ago, the gallery moved across the street to its current spot.

The memories aren’t simply tied to the gallery’s locations, either. When she looks back, Slack said, she thinks about her husband and the other family members who have worked there over the years, including her daughter, her son-in-law and her many nieces.

“It’s really been a family business,” Slack said, adding that she has built a real extended family around the gallery, too, and that includes the other business owners she has gotten to know over the past three decades.

“I’ve been hanging out with these people for 30 years,” Slack said, laughing. “It’s a nice feeling.”

Slack has seen a lot change over the history of River’s Edge Gallery, not the least of which is her customer and visitor base. In a sense, she admits, she has helped to educate a new generation of art lovers, many of whom are now old enough to be gallery customers.

“I’ve always considered this a community gallery, and as such, I’m here to serve the community,” Slack said. “Part of that role is education.

“I’ve never kicked kids out of the gallery,” Slack added “I get kids coming in after class to look at the art. Some of them have never been to a museum. There are some things they maybe shouldn’t see, and that’s fine. But we want them in the gallery.”

In addition to running the gallery, Slack has been a longtime leader of the business community. She was president of the for more than a decade, is a past chairwoman of the Wyandotte Downtown Development Association and is still a DDA member. In fact, it was a move she made as a business leader some 14 years ago that is still having a great impact on the entire downtown area.

As a way of helping both of their businesses, Slack and Karen Thomas of came up with the idea of a gallery crawl, where they would stay open late once a month and offer special events for their customers.

That idea was the seed that, in time, grew into Third Friday, the once-a-month party that brings thousands of visitors to the downtown area.

“We worked at it and worked at it and worked at it,” Slack said. “I do think Third Friday has been important for all of Wyandotte.”