Art exhibitions travel a lot throughout their lives; they are displayed at various venues to let global audiences access rare and unique art. This way, the most important issue that art institutions have to address in the process of organizing art logistics is the safety of all delicate and fragile art objects. Here, a museum crate comes into play as a standard measure of museum-grade artwork protection for travel. This blog post introduces the best practices of crating art and explains the technical side of this procedure.

Best Practices for Building a Museum Crate

When discussing art crating, most people think about it only in the framework of securing art from external damage. Yet, museums recognize many other best practices in this area. First and foremost, a museum crate is definitely about art protection. Its sturdy nature helps it withstand all kinds of impact and ensures the art object inside stays intact.

Second, such a crate is built in a way that ensures the safety of all people handling it at various touchpoints across the art object’s travel to and from exhibition locations. Third, the wooden crate should be made with proper regard to the truck, moving and loading equipment, and shipping areas through which art objects will pass in the process of travel. Crates should also meet the dimensions of all these objects so that no logistics bottlenecks are encountered in the middle of the journey.

Last but not least, the practice of crate production is informed by the place and method of their storage while not in use. The materials from which crates are made should be suitable for the intended storage conditions so that they remain reusable and safe for art objects.

Interior Materials of the Crate: Artwork Safety First

While the outer surface of the crate is less meaningful in terms of contact with the artwork, interior materials undergo a much more thorough selection process with safety in mind. They may come into direct contact with art, so their chemical composition is taken into account, along with shock absorption and volume considerations. These materials should have a low VOC rating and should be chemically neutral to get museum approval for use.

Crate: Much More Than a Protective Shell

As comes from the best practices discussed above, a museum-grade wooden crate plays a role much broader than that of a simple protective container for shipping artwork to any distance. Its proper design, manufacturing, and choice of materials and methods represent the best practices in museum logistics operations, held in line with the top standards of safety and professionalism.