March 26, 2017
Dear Members, non-Members and Friends,
The National Watercolor Society is internationally known for its high standard of professionalism and excellence. When you are accepted into an NWS Exhibition, you are being honored as one of the best. Your acceptance into an exhibition needs to carry with it an assurance that your work is being displayed at museum-quality standards. For many years now, NWS has wrestled with the issue of receiving way too many differing frames which lessens the overall impact of our exhibitions. Therefore, we have decided to institute a new framing policy.
Starting with the 2017 NWS International Open Exhibition, you will have 2 options in regards to framing.
1. Ship your artwork un-matted and unframed, which saves you time, money, headaches, shipping costs, damaged frame repair costs and most of all, questionable aesthetic appeal. We have contracted with Bartwood Construction, Inc. to receive, frame, deliver, hang, pickup, un-frame and return artwork to the artist. Now, your only requirement is to ship your work flat or in a tube, and Bartwood will take care of the temporary framing presentation
OR
2. Ship or hand-deliver your framed artwork directly to Bartwood Construction, Inc., adhering strictly to NWS framing guidelines.
Please note, NWS will strictly enforce the framing guidelines as written in the prospectus. If your framing does not adhere to the guidelines you will be contacted by NWS to pay for the framing repair, replacement or return of your artwork to you.
Our goal is to have curators, art critics and journalists who visit the National Watercolor Society Gallery comment and write about how our watermedia exhibitions not only need to be seen and appreciated for the inherent excellence of your art work, but also for the professionalism of presentation which makes the viewer’s experience more enjoyable. We are confident you will find this new development as exciting and positive as we do.
Benefits for the Artist to ship artwork un-matted and unframed
- No need to mat or frame before shipping
- Less time preparing for shipping
- No more bent/smashed/marred frames or scratched plexiglass
- Much, much cheaper to ship -- reduced costs for shipping and packing
- No need to invest in expensive shipping materials
- No additional costs for repairing frames that do not meet exhibition standards
- No possibility of being disqualified due to damage from improper packing or shipping
Benefits for the Exhibition to ship artwork un-matted and unframed
- The exhibition will look so much “cleaner” without a variety of frames distracting from each artist’s wonderful artwork.
- Uniformity of the presentation will enhance the presentation of the art work
- Arranging the work for hanging is simplified - Two sizes of frames, 4 options for hanging - 2 vertical and 2 horizontal
- NWS will select the framing materials
- One framer for the entire exhibition
- No time spent on contacting the artists to arrange for framing repairs
- Professional and museum-quality presentation, enhancing the collector/viewer experience
NWS Exhibition Shipping - Handling - Framing
Who:
Our partner will be the Art Department of Bartwood Construction, inc.
Professional, cost effective, responsible handling and presentation for the benefit of our membership. They ship, handle, frame and store for major LA Museums and Galleries.
Why:
1.To ease the process of entering our exhibitions and ensure lower shipping cost. To have one entity responsible for the handling of artwork throughout the entire process.
2. The exhibition works will be stored in a climate controlled facility before and after the exhibition enabling maximum use of the gallery space.
What/How:
Bartwood Construction, Inc. has set up a room that will store the exhibition. They will be responsible for the process of receiving, cataloging, verifying condition directly with the artist and framing all artwork in a uniform manner.
Bartwood will then deliver and hang the framed artwork. After the exhibition, Bartwood will pickup, un-frame and ship all work back to the artists.
After working with Bartwood Construction, Inc. during this past international exhibition, we received only positive responses about their handling of the artwork and the speedy return of work.
Timeline:
Work will be shipped unframed either flat or in a tube allowing two months for the work to be framed.
This timeline will allow artists to send in their work immediately upon prompting and avoids the travel time to find a qualified framer.
Costs when shipping un-matted, unframed artwork:
Artists will pay a shipping and handling fee of $60 plus a temporary use frame/plexiglass fee of $150 - $175 (depending on size). Artists' work will be returned to them in their original tubes or flat container.
Sincerely,
Ken Goldman
President, NWS
GVoice: 424-888-3915
www.nationalwatercolorsociety.org