Storing Your Art

At Museum Exchange, we help move a lot of art. This extends to not only finding a new home for an artwork, but also coordinating the logistics involved in physically delivering it to an institution. More often than not, those artworks are coming out of long-term storage, not off collectors’ walls. 

We’ve encountered the full range of storage setups, and worked with hundreds of companies providing storage and logistics services. As people’s collections have grown exponentially over the last few decades, so too have the storage solutions available to them. These innovations range from tax-free, art-dedicated freeports to national networks like Uovo and Crozier.

Earlier this year, we started looking into storage solutions for ourselves as we’ve begun to take on some larger collections. Here you will find the main takeaways from our months-long investigation into art storage. 

Choosing the right place to store your art

The first consideration when selecting art storage is location. Collectors have multiple options when it comes to storing art, each with distinct advantages and considerations. 

Private Residence 

A home or office is the most common choice for many collectors. It offers the convenience of unrestricted access and direct control over environmental conditions, plus it comes with no added costs. However, special consideration must be given to the environment. We recommend areas with a stable temperature and humidity levels, minimal exposure to light (especially direct sunlight), and away from high-traffic areas.

Self-Storage

Self-storage facilities can work for the budget-conscious collector but require careful evaluation. Facilities with proper HVAC systems (not just heating), robust security systems, and reasonable access policies are critical to look out for. The key is finding locations that can maintain stable temperature and humidity—many standard storage facilities cannot deliver consistent conditions necessary for art preservation. You also want to be mindful of the other tenants in the building in case the contents of their unit might affect yours.

Specialized Art Storage

Specialized art storage providers provide the gold standard for serious collectors, offering climate control, state-of-the-art security, and professional art handling services that can also include inventory management, packing, crating, transportation, and installation services. These facilities understand art-specific requirements and provide proper environmental controls. However, their premium pricing reflects their specialized level of care. If you’re curious about what these look like, the New York Times took a tour inside one of New York’s premier facilities.

Breaking Down Your Storage Needs 

We spent most of our time evaluating different storage providers who specialized in art storage. Through the process of comparing them, we came away with a list of things to keep in mind.

Cubic Feet is King

Most storage facilities measure their space and provide quotes in cubic feet. To calculate the cubic feet of an item from its dimensions, you can use the formula: length x width x height. From there, if your dimensions are in inches, divide your total by 1,728 to get your volume. 

How Much Space Will You Need?

We learned that it’s best to estimate storage needs conservatively, so this means using estimated packed dimensions rather than the artwork dimensions. This takes the packing materials around the artwork into consideration, since the artwork will be packed while in storage. To calculate this add 2-4 inches to each of the artwork’s dimensions and use that number to determine the cubic feet.

It’s Not One-Size Fits All

Even after you’ve chosen an art storage provider, you might still have a couple of options to choose from. The first is to decide whether you want shared (concierge) or private storage. In the former case, your art will be stored alongside other people’s in a large warehouse and you’ll need an art handler to retrieve the work for you, should you ever wish to access it. In the latter case, your art will be stored in a dedicated space within the larger facility. This is a great option if you require regular access to the works or enhanced privacy. If you do opt for shared storage, the second consideration is what environmental controls your artworks require. Not all artworks need state-of-the-art climate control, such as sculpture made from more durable materials like stone. You can save money storing those works in spaces that just have temperature controls (and not humidity controls too).

Don’t Forget Insurance

Most facilities do not include insurance in their storage fees; it is an extra cost. Going through your own insurer will often be cheaper. Many storage facilities will charge you a markup on their policy.

Guyton/Walker, Untitled, 2009, crate with inkjet print on drywall, inkjet print on drywall, paint cans with inkjet on paper labels, 67 x 124 x 23 inches. Collection of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Gift of Sam and Shanit Schwartz.

Looking at the Costs

Storage is the Trojan Horse. Most specialized art storage facilities will provide a reasonable storage quote between $1-$3 (in New York City) per cubic foot. Where the costs start to add up is in the handling charges.

Receiving Art into Storage

In order to move an artwork into storage, it needs to pass through a variety of receiving stages. The first is getting the truck to a dock. Most facilities charge a dock fee just to bring the vehicle transporting your art to their dock. This is charged on a per delivery basis. So the fewer deliveries, the better.

From there, facilities will charge an hourly rate for art handlers to unload your art from the vehicle. If you’d like your artwork to be inspected upon arrival or your insurance provider requires it, a condition report can be completed. This is either charged on an hourly rate or a per object basis.

Then upon completion of the condition report, your artwork is repackaged and put into storage. 

Releasing Art from Storage

If you’d like to get your artwork out of storage, the reverse occurs. If you have not done a condition report upon receipt, you can have a condition report done prior to the art storage provider releasing your work. (You can of course do it both upon receipt and upon release.)

Like in receiving, storage facilities will charge a dock fee, and a fee for art handlers to perform the condition reporting if you choose to have one along with an hourly rate to transport the artwork from the storage space to the transport vehicle.

While in Storage

Most storage facilities will provide a digital inventory management tool for you to have a log of what is in storage. If you would like to view your art in storage, you can access it via a viewing room, which can be rented for either an hourly or daily fee. You will also be charged an hourly fee for art handlers to bring the artwork to the viewing room.

Packing Considerations

Before artwork even enters storage, it needs to be properly packed. This serves as the first line of defense against damage. Good packing protects art not just from impact, but from environmental shifts, improper handling, and long-term deterioration. There is nothing more heartbreaking for us than when we learn of a work being unpacked at a museum only to discover that it had been improperly packed before going into storage and suffered damage as a result. 

Frames offer helpful structural support, but only if they’re made with archival materials and designed to avoid direct contact between glass and the artwork. For added protection, works should be wrapped in acid-free materials like Tyvek or glassine, with bubble wrap or foam padding on the outside (never directly touching the art). For paper-based works, archival boxes are often sufficient. For larger or more fragile items, custom wooden crates with padding and climate barriers are ideal.

When in doubt, professional art handlers or conservators can help ensure your packing materials are appropriate for both storage and long-term preservation.

The Bottom Line

Art storage is an ongoing expense with recurring monthly fees and additional fees every time you want to see your art or move it.

For collectors who are regularly rotating their collection or moving between properties, quality storage is absolutely worth the investment. But for collectors who have had artworks sitting in storage for years—with no plans to put them on view or pass them on to heirs—it might be worth considering alternatives. What could be better than seeing your artwork go on view at a public institution instead? Contact us to learn more about our donation services.

Do you have storage questions that we didn’t cover here? Let us know at info@museumexchange.com and we'll consider them for future posts.