Tucked in the corners of cities like Cleveland that overflow with culture and creativity, you will find people and places so foundational that they are remembered long after they are gone. 

For Shawn Mishak, curator of the Pats’ in The Flats exhibition currently showing at Doubting Thomas Gallery in Tremont, Pats’ in The Flats was one of those places and Patricia Hanych was one of those people. 
 

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A family-owned bar and rock club that operated for more than 60 years, Pats' sat nestled at the foot of the Literary Hill in Tremont. From the outside, it resembled other houses that lined the street, except for a hand-painted sign on the side that let “truckers and lowly punk rockers alike” know they were exactly where they were supposed to be.  

Originally, the building was purchased by William Hanych in 1945 and operated as a restaurant and bar. Over the years, it served as a place of refuge for blue-collar workers ending a strenuous day in a bustling industrial city. 

His daughter, Patricia Hanych, was at the forefront of the building’s transition in 1987 into a live music venue. Local band Pat’s Hot Nights needed a place to perform, and Pat agreed. The venue quickly built a reputation as a budding spot for original music, and the rest was history. Over the next 40 years, Pats' hosted local acts like Machine Go Boom and Mishak’s band Kid Tested, even featuring The White Stripes as the first venue the band played outside of their hometown, Detroit.

Pats’ in The Flats would end up being sold in 2018, concluding its 40-year run as a beacon for underground culture in Cleveland. Patricia Hanych passed away on June 12, 2022, at the age of 82.

Despite the end of an era for Pats’ in The Flats, those influenced by Pat and the space she created continue to carry the torch of its memory onward. On Friday, Oct. 10, Mishak hosted the opening night of the exhibition he curated to honor Hanych and all the music history that took place at Pats’ in The Flats. 
 

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“There was a combination of many other music venues opening in Cleveland, her stubbornness about getting a credit card machine, and then COVID was the final nail in the coffin of Pats’,” Mishak said. “Pats’ should have went out like a lion. Pat deserves better, she always has. I hope this elevated her legacy.” 

Mishak said his first impression of Pats’ in The Flats when he first visited in the late ‘90s was that he had stepped into an underground oasis. He brought bands in to perform at Pats’, working for nearly 20 years alongside Hanych, who served as a “pseudo-mother/grandmother” to the music community in Cleveland. 

“Pat was the magic,” Mishak said. “She could be as sweet as peach pie, but did not mince words and could be gruff. She spoke with experience. She'd lived through adversity, but grew through her pain, and she was someone who owned herself.”

During his time at Pats’ in The Flats, Mishak attended CSU for writing and photography. He shot endless rolls of film of fellow creatives who walked through the doors of the “underground oasis,” documenting a chapter of Cleveland’s music history.

Much of the film sat undeveloped until being processed and printed recently in preparation for the exhibition, now ready to be seen in a celebration that Mishak said was integral for those who witnessed it first-hand. 

“The people who were part of it, needed to see this documented, displayed and celebrated,” Mishak said. “There were so many undefinable art happenings that took place at that venue that there was no proper culmination or celebration of this, so I hope people felt a sense of appreciation for all that went into making these shows a reality. “
 

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Contributions came from Mishak as well as other photographers and artists such as Malcom Ryder of the band Sosumi, Kristine Davies, Lou Muenz, Jay Brown, Barb Merritt and Anastasia Pantsios. The process of bringing the show to life was a communal effort led by Mishak. 

“I decided early on it was going to have a life of its own, but I'd been plotting this course for a long time so I was confident in the navigation,” Mishak said. “It was similar to booking a punk rock show, I wanted to keep it very loose and I always like the idea of having a ‘living project.’” 

For visitors unfamiliar with Pats’ in The Flats, Mishak likens the experience to opening a time capsule full of magic and sensory overload. 

“In some of those images the viewer can almost hear the music,” Mishak said. “Many people will probably be like, ‘I can't believe I've never heard of this place!’” 

One of Mishak’s personal favorite elements of the show is a spot for attendees to “have a drink with Pat” while sitting on the original barstools from the venue, a piece he had been planning since she passed. 
 

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“I felt like it was a cheeky way to have a farewell celebratory drink with her, hopefully offering catharsis,” Mishak said. “This is mostly for the people who were a part of it, but to give people who weren't a glimpse into her behind the bar.” 

Mishak said the show serves as a celebration of the people and places who support the existence of free spaces to push the boundaries of creativity, not only in the past, but in the years to come too.

“There will always be a new faction of young people who need free spaces to push the boundaries of creativity, and we need to celebrate the people and places that nurture this and give it a roof to exist underneath,” Mishak said. “I hope this exhibition inspires more of this. Pat's spirit lives on through this.”

The exhibition will be open to the public on Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m. at Doubting Thomas Gallery in Tremont until the closing night on Nov. 7, 2025. More information on the gallery, history of Pats in the Flats, and prints available for purchase can be found on Mishak’s Instagram.