Shipping Hicks

Our Sheila Hicks: 50 Years exhibition is up now for all to see. But our work with it is far from over.

The show will be travelling to two more venues: the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (March 25, 2011-August 7, 2011), and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, North Carolina (October 1, 2011-January 29, 2012). Just as it was my job to arrange the shipment of all the objects from the show's twenty-five lenders to the Addison, it's my job to figure out how to get the show to each of the venues, and then disperse its objects at the end of the tour back to their owners. This is not an easy task.

For example, anyone visiting the exhibition will note that while many of the objects are small, there are some that are rather large. The crates used for shipping these objects had to be even larger. The largest crate we received measures six feet high by three feet deep by fifteen feet long, about two feet shorter than a Cadillac Escalade (see left, with yours truly pictured for scale). Granted, the crate weighed less than the car, but it was too large to move through our galleries. We technically could fit it on our elevator with about an inch to spare, but there was not enough space outside the elevator doors to move it in or out. We ended up unpacking it inside our loading dock area and carefully lugging each of its object's twenty-three components up two floors to the galleries. Very complex logistics were required to ship this here from Europe. Due to the schedule of flights with cargo holds large enough to accommodate it, the crate had to be delivered to the museum one morning at 1:30AM. I was one of the poor souls who was on site to receive it, but that was nothing compared to the long journey the courier who travelled with it had to suffer!

Working with a fine arts shipper, I'll figure out how we'll get this, and the rest of the crates, to the next venues. How many trucks will we need? How large? Can any of the crates be stacked? Will there be enough space to ship the show's cases and pedestals? And, of course, can the venues accommodate large trucks at their loading docks and can we maneuver the large crates around their galleries?

Sometimes, these questions are only finally answered at the end of the show's run, many times through trial, and hopefully, very little error. But the more we can figure out in the advance, the smoother the shipments and installations go. And that is what is best for the art!


Posted by:

James M. Sousa
Associate Registrar for Collections and Archives

The Addison on MCTV

The Addison on Methuen Community Television!

Wednesday, November 24 at 6:30 PM and 10 PM



Watch Thom Gradzewicz's segment on the Addison, filmed in September, on Comcast Channel 22 in Methuen or Verizon Channel 33 in Lawrence, North Andover, and North Reading. Click here for more information, including future air dates.

Exhibition Opening Reception - Nov. 5

Opening Reception

Friday 5 November
5:00 – 7:30 PM

Please join us for the opening of our new exhibitions:

Sheila Hicks: 50 Years

The first museum retrospective devoted to Sheila Hicks, a pioneering artist known for successfully navigating the terrain between art, design, and architecture in works composed of fiber and color. »MORE

Please join us in Kemper Auditorium on Saturday 6 November at 2 PM when we host a special conversation with exhibition artist Sheila Hicks and co-curators Joan Simon and Susan Faxon!

Artist's Project:Tristan Perich

Inspired by the aesthetics of math and physics, Perich works with simple forms and complex systems to create both his music and art. »MORE

At top: Cristobal Zañartu, photograph of components of Sheila Hick's May I Have This Dance?, 2002-3, in the courtyard of Hicks's Cour de Rohan studio, 2003.
At bottom: Tristan Perich, Machine Wall Drawing, 2010-09-15, 11:53 AM to 2010-09-28, 3:06 PM (detail), ink, 120 x 100 inches

The event is free and open to the public. For directions, click here.