Artwork Handling

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Artwork is the culmination of the mastery of a medium and the expression of creative activity. When you need someone to transport your delicate work of art safely, why would you entrust it to someone who hasn't mastered their craft? With four decades of experience in the field, we have mastered the field of fine art transportation.

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While each type of painting has its unique qualities and challenges, all of the artwork is handled and protected in the same manner. All of our artwork is packaged similarly, meant to protect the painting at all costs. It all begins with creating a clean debris free working area and clean hands with gloves to prevent any debris from making contact with the face of the painting. We use archival grade glassine paper and acid-free tape to avoid any damage or yellowing to the canvas material. Then we will continue the wrapping process with brown paper followed by cardboard corners and bubble wrap. After each painting is appropriately packaged, it is then placed in a custom made double-walled cardboard box to prevent any excess movement in transit. If a piece of art is to be stored for any reason (and let's face it, there are plenty of reasons that might delay the hanging of your artwork); desiccant bags are placed inside the box to remove any excess humidity while your artwork is stored in a climate-controlled facility.

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When we say that we have been doing this a long time, that doesn't just mean that the company has been around for four decades, we mean that our crew members have been with us for a long time as well. Our newest crew member has been with the company for seven years, and most of our crew members have been with the company for over 12 years. Each of our crew members is trained in the skills needed to handle and package fine artwork.

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Artwork & Sculpture Crating

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There are some items that need better protection than what is provided in your everyday art handling packaging. You may want the added peace of mind of a wooden crate during travel, or the items may be stored in an area where they may come in contact with humidity. For such occasions as this, our art crating services should be your go-to choice. All crates are built for the specific item and the requirements needed for each crate regardless if it is a 2D item such as artwork or painting or a 3D item such as sculptures.

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Our credo is that if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Each of our custom crates is built in house by our skilled craftsman, not farmed out to another company who may miss the details needed in protecting your valuable work of art. The crates are built to the specific needs of the artwork. No matter the type of crate that you decide to use, the same attention to detail and quality will be maintained throughout the process of building.  All of our crates will come with handles on them to help with the ease of moving the crates. The easier they are for people to move them, the better they will be treated throughout transportation. We have a couple of different crate options, including:

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Relic crate: The Relic crate is the one you chose to protect your most important valuables. If you have a painting, the art handling protection will be the basis upon which the crate is built upon. From there, we use 3/4" structural plywood, closure plates, stock watch & tilt watch stickers with adequate packing material and more to be dropped out of an airplane to its destination. These crates are designed to be multiuse crates for your artwork. The Relic Crate can also be crafted with the same fashion as our Cushion Crate.

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Cushion crate: The Cushion crate is built n the same manner as our Relic Crate, but it is designed to reduce the shockwaves that are often incurred during the process of transportation. Crates that are built to house artwork or sculptures are usually large and heavy, making the need to transport them via LTL shipments a necessity. Throughout that process, these crates are beaten up with forklifts, pallet jacks, and jostled in transport via pothole-ridden roads. The Floating crate utilizes specifically placed foam, so it absorbs the shockwaves of impacts incurred during the transportation process. 

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Skeleton Crate: The Skeleton crate is the most basic of crates. It is made with long slats of wood to surround the artwork or sculpture in a basic framework to protect the items from being bumped into during transit. This is a one time use only crate and offers minimal protection, but put in conjunction with the art handling packaging will offer decent protection.

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Industry Crate: This is the standard crate that you will find throughout the industry. It is built with the same overall style as our Relic Crate, but isn't overbuilt and uses more economical materials. Our Industry crate uses the art handling packaging and surrounds it with 1/2" plywood, foam packing material necessary to ensure safe travel with shock watch & tilt watch stickers attached to the crate. This crate is designed to withstand the rough treatment that you might expect with transportation by a non-specialized LTL carrier.

 

Posiden Crate: Our Posiden Crate takes our Relic crate and gives it the ability to help withstand the elements. We use MDO Board, which is a manufactured plywood Board like MDF but is made with Weather-Resistant Resin and Glues to seal it from the elements. We use a rubber gasket around the lid of the crate to seal it from the elements and wrap the item in weatherproof plastic to prevent any water from penetrating the art handling packaging.