Framing Four Decades of Memories on Camp Bowie Boulevard
By Stephen Montoya
This past July, Marty & Pats Frame Shoppe & Art Gallery reached a milestone few small businesses ever achieve: 40 years on Camp Bowie Boulevard’s historic “Bricks.”
For four decades, the shop has been a place where Fort Worth families bring in more than artwork. They bring in memories — a child’s first outfit, a military keepsake, a wedding portrait, a family heirloom, or a treasured item whose value cannot be measured by a price tag.
Inside the longtime Camp Bowie institution, the work is part craftsmanship, part storytelling. Every frame has a history, and every customer who walks through the door has a reason for preserving something meaningful.
Current owner Kari Breen has carried on that tradition for more than seven years after taking over the business from founders Marty and Pat. Before becoming the owner of one of Fort Worth’s most recognizable custom framing shops, Breen was already a customer — and a successful pet photographer known for her animal photography.
“Marty started it on his own. Later, they became Marty and Pats,” Breen said. “And I believe it originated with him framing actual cells from the Disney movies. That was a big thing. And so it took off from there. It just became a custom frame shop.”
“Everything we do is 100% custom,” Breen said. “We don’t order frames in unless they’re the 22-karat gold closed corner, which we do several of those. But other than that, our frames come in, in 10-foot sticks and the team’s in the back. So every mat’s custom cut, every frame, everything is.”
Over the years, the team has framed nearly anything a customer can imagine — from artwork and sports memorabilia to military pieces, flags, murals, and family treasures.
“If you want a treasure on your wall, we frame it,” Breen said.
Among the shop’s more unique and recurring projects are Hermès scarves, which arrive regularly to be transformed into custom displays. Marty & Pats is also a local gallery that displays many Fort Worth artist’s work placed in — you guessed it — a custom frame. And no matter what you bring into this business to be framed, it will be displayed and cared for like a fine piece of art.
“One thing that we’re very aware of is not everything is a Picasso, but we still handle the items like it is,” Breen said. “It’s, you know, sometimes a keepsake from a child with a Santa with the cotton ball on it, we treat that item like as if it was a Picasso just the same.”
That belief shapes the way the team approaches every project. Whether it is a famous work of art or a family keepsake, each item receives the same level of care.
The business grew from those early beginnings into a destination for custom framing, eventually becoming part of the fabric of Camp Bowie’s historic commercial district.
“We’re very blessed to be on ‘the Bricks,’” Breen said. “We have incredible clients right here that make my job so enjoyable.”
When Marty and Pat decided to retire, Breen was approached about continuing the legacy. She had reservations. Her background was photography, not framing, but she quickly realized the importance of the people who made the shop special.
“When talking about taking this business over, the entire team said they wanted to stay,” Breen verified. “So I said, ‘Well, if the team is staying, then I’ll make it work.’ But without the team, the shop is nothing. That’s where all the magic happens in the back.”
Today, that magic comes from a close-knit group of eight employees who handle the detailed craftsmanship behind every project.
“It’s very much family,” Breen said. “We’re together probably more than we are with our actual families.”
At Marty & Pats, no two projects are exactly alike. The shop specializes in fully custom framing, creating pieces designed around each individual item that comes through the door.
“We do family heirlooms,” Breen said. “Maybe a father’s pair of chaps that’s passed or something of grandma and grandpa’s. Those are the things that families want forever, and they want to hand them down.”
The responsibility of preserving those memories is something Breen and her team take seriously.
The relationship goes beyond simply dropping off an item and picking it up later. Customers often share the stories behind what they are preserving.
“We might sit out there for 15 minutes and look at their photos on their phone and hear all the stories,” Breen said.
That connection — between the shop, the customer, and the memory being preserved — is what has kept Marty & Pats part of Camp Bowie for four decades.
As the business celebrates its 40-year anniversary, Breen looks back at the legacy created by Marty and Pat and the continued support of the Fort Worth community.
“The clients are almost like family,” Breen said. “we’ll frame their babies’ portraits, and then we frame those kids’ senior pictures, and then their wedding pictures come in, and then those brides and grooms become our new clients, and then they bring in their kids. It’s fun to watch.”
Visit them @
Marty & Pat's Frame Shoppe
5025 Camp Bowie Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76107
martyandpats.com