Challenge
Emerging Philadelphia artist, Jamie Gray Williams, has recently received national and international interest. Jamie received an opportunity to show her work at Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine. The opportunity came with a challenge though, the gallery wanted her to create two new pieces and the show was scheduled to start in just a few months. Jamie’s paintings use oil paints, which take months to dry at the scale of her work. After completing the pieces, she realized there wasn’t enough time for the pieces to dry, and they would have to ship wet. They would have to be shipped with a common carrier. She reached out to MSS for a fine art shipping crate and art packing solution.
Process
First, our fine art experts designed art shipping crates that would not only protect the piece from the rigors of shipping but also ensure that nothing contacted the wet oil paint. Once the crates were built, they were painted on the inside and out to seal the wood. This prevented any flaking or dust inside the crate, and provided a weather barrier on the outside. The pieces were then secured inside by fastening the canvas stretcher directly to the crate, allowing the canvas to float inside without anything contacting the surface. Finally, the art shipping crates were sealed using latches so the gallery could easily open them upon arrival, and to allow for reusability for the pieces to be returned or shipped to a buyer.
Results
Upon arrival at the gallery, the common carrier left the fine art shipping crates outside on a dreary Maine morning. Hours later when the gallery employees discovered the crates outside, they feared the worst and contacted Jamie. When they opened them inside the building, they discovered the inside edges of the crates were lined with weather stripping and no water had penetrated the art shipping crates. As a result, the pieces were in perfect condition despite having been shipped with the paint still wet and subject to rough handling throughout.
