Many art objects travel in custom wooden crates, which are built in line with their individual dimensions and shipping requirements. Building a high-quality, sturdy crate is not cheap, so most art institutions use crates multiple times to improve the sustainability of their operations and reduce costs. Thus, if the artwork is frequently subjected to travel, its crate can serve multiple times, and its storage should also be factored into the planning of art storage services. Here are the main considerations related to storing crates.

Why Include Crate Storage in the Art Storage Services?

Art galleries and dealers may face storage issues because of insufficient space available to store the crates of touring exhibitions. As a result, they often search for alternative storage spaces that would give them flexibility in hosting touring art objects without the need to secure large spaces for crate storage for the period of their display.

Crate Storage Requirements

In many cases, you can’t simply stock wooden art crates in some free area and hope for the better. Crates are a vital dimension of art protection in transit, and they are constructed with a long list of safety parameters in mind. Thus, they won’t be able to secure an art object from humidity and temperature fluctuations if their integrity is compromised as a result of improper storage and degradation.

To guarantee the integrity of an art object’s crate, storage space should be pest-free and climate-controlled. It should also be spacious enough for the crates to be stored in optimal conditions and avoid the negative impact of external risk factors.

Options for Organizing Crate Storage

There are several approaches to organizing crate storage in line with professional standards and safety requirements. Some venues and galleries don’t have space for crate storage as such, and the exhibition’s organizers need to order third-party art storage services to handle this aspect on their part. Other art entities have long-term contracts with off-site storage providers that handle crates for the periods of art display and return the crates to the gallery at the end of the exhibition for packing and departure. It is also common to set false walls inside the gallery and store crates behind them for optimal space use. In any case, all these arrangements should be negotiated in advance to ensure that crates receive proper handling at all stages.