Artship Fine Art may seem like your cheapest option for shipping or installation, but please be advised that they are cheaper for a very good reason: THEY DO NOT PAY THEIR EMPLOYEES. As a former Artship employee I can tell you firsthand that their so called "art storage" is nothing more than a damp storage shed in Queens without the slightest hint of climate control. Be advised that their employees are often not trained in handling art and may very well cause damage to your art or building. Artship's trucks do not run on diesel. They run on the blood of it's artist employees. You would be a fool to work for them or hire them. Make sure Artship does not suck you dry like they did me.
no of course "they" haven't because its probably just one person, who's not telling the truth. As a freelancer who's worked for artship, I can say that I've had none of the experiences above. Anybody who's working in the arts right now knows that money is tight. Usually you don't want a business who owes you money to go under (then there's no more money for anybody), but judging by the hysterical and hateful tone of the "boycott artship" blog, there's a lot more whining and speculation than real legal issues. All I can say is the posts don't match up with my experience at all.
AD Trucks: there is a company to avoid. The employees are docked pay for traffic/parking tickets (that should be part of their operating expenses). It's run out of a baby-crazed woman's fancy CT home so when you call to book there are always screaming babies in the background (she has never even met most of her staff and just hires them based on if they are a friend of a current employee.. no application/references/experience needed. Repeatedly work would "mysteriously" be damaged in between the gallery and the delivery destination...but of course the handlers denied mishandling to the boss and to us then would brag/gossip to other friends (who happen to be friends) about how they damaged something but got away with it.
p.s. the Artship founders used to be employees of AD Trucks.
Having worked at AD trucks i will say that while i was there i worked very hard to do a good job. Work did VERY occasionally get damaged. The most damage I ever saw there was scratched frames on extremely heavy objects that broke a strap loose in the truck. I was not happy about this and made sure that it did not happen again. I never saw damage to an artwork itself. Damaged work was a very rare occurrence while I was there. I do not know the current crew and cannot comment on them.
I unfortunately had booked Artship for an art fair and they use the "bait and switch" practice of giving you a cheap estimate to book with them and then charging you so much more without letting you know why until after they collect your money. The worst people to book your shipments with - the estimates seem cheap just like the way they run their business.
surround art mixed my work with the work from another artist and sent my work to the wrong country and did nothing to help me get the work to he show, in fact the art never did make it to the gallery in europe
Hands down Artex is the most professional full service company around. Yes, they can be a little more expensive than some of these smaller outfits, but you get what you pay for. I use them everytime I have to ship artwork to my home in Palm Beach - door to door, wall to wall. No problems.
Did anyone notice that ArtShip's new space in Williamsburg on 1 North 12th Street is right next to what looks like chemical or gasoline storage? Seriously?
I used Artcore for cross-country shuttles on a few occasions because of their cheap rates. In the end, I've had numerous works damaged, works held hostage until hidden fees were paid, email and phone rants by the owner Keith, and hidden fees and unapproved charges billed to clients. I used to love these guys, then the quality went down and the general deceitfulness began. Maybe the economy has put new stresses on these companies, but I had always been a loyal customer. No more!
I have worked in several galleries as a lead preparator and associate director, both in NYC and other cities in the U.S. and I can say from personal experience that Mobius, Artex, Atelier 4 and Crozier are all great companies to work with. Skilled, professional and helpful. They may not be the cheapest, but when your dealing with irreplaceable objects that is not really what you should be looking for.
am an artist worked for surround art. If you care about art, you don't wanna know their practices. To make things worse, the guy who runs the place hates artists. As for the way they treat their workers? Bunch of scheisters. Avoid, avoid...
I find that surroundart, artex, a-4 US art are all honest companies that care about what they do and so do most major museums foundations etc. Packing Shipping storing and handling art is not easy and full of risk as a registrar of a major museum I am thankful we have the resources that we do.
I have been using Milani Packing . They did a bunch of shipments to europe for me and everything turned out great. The crates were sick. They have been in business for ever. They are a bunch of nice guys..
As a collector and a dealer I would not trust anyone to ship my art other than Cirkers and Hayes in Manhattan. Their prices are right on target for high end shipping and crating, they have been in business for over 100 years!and see through the job as if they are sending their own art
and I have also stored art with them, super convenient location fair prices for manhattan and super posh building, I highly reccommend storing with them
I have been using INTERNATIONAL FAS they are out of New Jersey. They have all brand new equipment. They also have a shuttle service to the west coast and there prices are cheap compared to A4 or us art. They did a very nice job crating a few oversized paintings for me. I like that handles are a standard on all there crates.
Rat Fink searching for Scuz Finks, Gold Finks.
Artists: Please share your positive/negative experiences with critics, curators, and galleries.
Comments from those with direct experience only, please.
30 comments:
still waiting for money.
what about Bob's Trucking, Mobius, Astro Delivery.
any comments on any of these? i wonder about them all.
are they good places to work?
does anybody know?
sometimes it takes a while for shippers to receive payment.
Artship Fine Art may seem like your cheapest option for shipping or installation, but please be advised that they are cheaper for a very good reason: THEY DO NOT PAY THEIR EMPLOYEES. As a former Artship employee I can tell you firsthand that their so called "art storage" is nothing more than a damp storage shed in Queens without the slightest hint of climate control. Be advised that their employees are often not trained in handling art and may very well cause damage to your art or building. Artship's trucks do not run on diesel. They run on the blood of it's artist employees. You would be a fool to work for them or hire them. Make sure Artship does not suck you dry like they did me.
http://boycottartship.blogspot.com/
Artship boycotters,
Any of you able to find good, cheap legal help to get your $? If so, please post here...
no of course "they" haven't because its probably just one person, who's not telling the truth. As a freelancer who's worked for artship, I can say that I've had none of the experiences above. Anybody who's working in the arts right now knows that money is tight. Usually you don't want a business who owes you money to go under (then there's no more money for anybody), but judging by the hysterical and hateful tone of the "boycott artship" blog, there's a lot more whining and speculation than real legal issues.
All I can say is the posts don't match up with my experience at all.
So what are the good places for an arthandler to work for?
I have been around galleries, installing shows, when the people from Crozier and Mojo are there, and they have both always been great.
AD Trucks: there is a company to avoid. The employees are docked pay for traffic/parking tickets (that should be part of their operating expenses). It's run out of a baby-crazed woman's fancy CT home so when you call to book there are always screaming babies in the background (she has never even met most of her staff and just hires them based on if they are a friend of a current employee.. no application/references/experience needed. Repeatedly work would "mysteriously" be damaged in between the gallery and the delivery destination...but of course the handlers denied mishandling to the boss and to us then would brag/gossip to other friends (who happen to be friends) about how they damaged something but got away with it.
p.s. the Artship founders used to be employees of AD Trucks.
I've worked with artship before. I don't have complaints.
I've worked with Artship before. I've found them to be unethical to both their employees and their clients.
There is no climate control, long distance shipping is outsourced to the cheapest man with large van and the staff is not chosen based on merits.
Best of luck working there or shipping with them...
Having worked at AD trucks i will say that while i was there i worked very hard to do a good job. Work did VERY occasionally get damaged. The most damage I ever saw there was scratched frames on extremely heavy objects that broke a strap loose in the truck. I was not happy about this and made sure that it did not happen again. I never saw damage to an artwork itself. Damaged work was a very rare occurrence while I was there. I do not know the current crew and cannot comment on them.
THEY DONT PAY THERE RENT AND EMPLOYEES.
I unfortunately had booked Artship for an art fair and they use the "bait and switch" practice of giving you a cheap estimate to book with them and then charging you so much more without letting you know why until after they collect your money. The worst people to book your shipments with - the estimates seem cheap just like the way they run their business.
surround art mixed my work with the work from another artist and sent my work to the wrong country and did nothing to help me get the work to he show, in fact the art never did make it to the gallery in europe
Hands down Artex is the most professional full service company around. Yes, they can be a little more expensive than some of these smaller outfits, but you get what you pay for. I use them everytime I have to ship artwork to my home in Palm Beach - door to door, wall to wall. No problems.
Did anyone notice that ArtShip's new space in Williamsburg on 1 North 12th Street is right next to what looks like chemical or gasoline storage? Seriously?
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40.724806,-73.961146&num=1&t=h&sll=40.724585,-73.961166&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&gl=us&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.72467,-73.961344&spn=0.000461,0.000751&z=20&layer=c&cbll=40.724528,-73.961105&panoid=lN8sxbSEMHTe2VSueyhIgQ&cbp=12,23.62,,0,3.88
ArtShip seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. No one answers phone calls or emails.
ARTSHIT IS DONE BYE BYE
I just had Renwick Fine Art ship some work for me down to Miami and back. They were great - very friendly, timely, and inexpensive to boot.
I used Artcore for cross-country shuttles on a few occasions because of their cheap rates. In the end, I've had numerous works damaged, works held hostage until hidden fees were paid, email and phone rants by the owner Keith, and hidden fees and unapproved charges billed to clients. I used to love these guys, then the quality went down and the general deceitfulness began. Maybe the economy has put new stresses on these companies, but I had always been a loyal customer. No more!
I have worked in several galleries as a lead preparator and associate director, both in NYC and other cities in the U.S. and I can say from personal experience that Mobius, Artex, Atelier 4 and Crozier are all great companies to work with. Skilled, professional and helpful. They may not be the cheapest, but when your dealing with irreplaceable objects that is not really what you should be looking for.
am an artist worked for surround art. If you care about art, you don't wanna know their practices. To make things worse, the guy who runs the place hates artists. As for the way they treat their workers? Bunch of scheisters. Avoid, avoid...
I find that surroundart, artex, a-4 US art are all honest companies that care about what they do and so do most major museums foundations etc. Packing Shipping storing and handling art is not easy and full of risk as a registrar of a major museum I am thankful we have the resources that we do.
I have been using Milani Packing . They did a bunch of shipments to europe for me and everything turned out great. The crates were sick. They have been in business for ever. They are a bunch of nice guys..
As a collector and a dealer I would not trust anyone to ship my art other than Cirkers and Hayes in Manhattan. Their prices are right on target for high end shipping and crating, they have been in business for over 100 years!and see through the job as if they are sending their own art
and I have also stored art with them, super convenient location fair prices for manhattan and super posh building, I highly reccommend storing with them
I have been using INTERNATIONAL FAS they are out of New Jersey. They have all brand new equipment. They also have a shuttle service to the west coast and there prices are cheap compared to A4 or us art. They did a very nice job crating a few oversized paintings for me. I like that handles are a standard on all there crates.
Just wanted to add....
Also I had many problems with ArtShip
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