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How to Prepare Artwork for Display

The Arthurian Arts Faire is part of the King Arthur Faire, and is presented in a pseudo medieval setting. That means that a lot of the artwork, if not all, will be displayed out doors. While an awning type tent cover should be in place at all times, there is still a lot of room for the elements of earth, air and water to make their way onto the surface of any project. Rain, wind and dirt are all common parts of the medieval faire experience.

While most art work will not be adversely effected by the brief exposure of one weekends, in extreme cases there could be some resulting damage due to the display venue. Therefore, the Arthurian Arts Faire volunteer staff suggests that concerned artists take some simple measures to properly shield their works during the mounting process.

Mounting a 2D Work of Art for Display

The key elements necessary to display artwork will be a stiff backing and a secure hanging line. Artwork must be affixed in a manner where it will not blow off if a gust of wind should suddenly arise.

1. Strongly secure all flat artwork to a backing of cardboard if possible. Scrap packing boxes with unwrinkled sides are a good source for a strong board.
   
   
   • You probably do not want this cardboard to be visible behind your artwork, so using a colored piece of craft paper to wrap the board might help presentation. Just remember that you will also need to attach everything securely to the board.
     
     
   • Alternately, you can use colored backing boards, Colored poster board, high quality construction paper or place a mat around your artwork. All additions should also be affixed as securely as possible.
     
     
2. Waterproofing is a good idea for any show. A layer of plastic will also keep off dust and stray fingerprints, as well as light dents and bumps that might happen during shipping.
   
   
   • Shrink wrap works well for this purpose. If you have the facilities to use it, please do. If you wrap it well you can even make a slit on the back of the wrap through which to feed your hanging line.
     
     
   • If your work is small enough to place inside a standard sheet clear plastic protector, you might want to try that. If you neatly trim off the edges, you can attach the sheet protector directly to your backing. This might even prove more effective than attaching the work directly.
     
     
   • There are other types of general plastic available from most office supply stores, Wal-Mart, and Target stores. Some are free standing, others are lamination types of material.
     
     
   • Do not use glass coverings since these usually break in shipping and can cut the artwork to shreds. Also please do not use plastic wrap to cover artwork since it tends to wrinkle, rip, and just plain looks bad.
     
     
3. In order to hang your work, a sturdy line needs to be attached to the back of your work. Paper clips, aluminum can tops, thumb tacks, paper rivets and the like attached with tape are not strong enough to withstand a sturdy backing board in a gusty wind. What you need is cardboard, strong twine and hot glue. Similarly, fishing line is not suggested, nor is single strand metal wire. These snap easily under continued or sudden stress.
   
   
   • A hanging line should be either thick nylon or cotton multi strand string (not yarn) or metal picture hanging wire (it is multi stranded). Extra heavy kite string can do quite nicely as well.
     
     
   • Fastening the line to a sturdy cardboard backing is actually quite simple using two 2 inch squares of cardboard. On a flat surface, place the hanging line horizontally across the back of the backing board about one third of the way from the top of the work. Use a heated hot glue gun to squirt a dime sized amount of hot glue directly on the hanging line half way between the middle of the backing and the edge of the board. Immediately place one of the cardboard squares over the hot glue and press down firmly. Repeat on the other side of the line and wait for the hot glue to firm up before trimming any excess line. If your particular brand of line slips out of this sort of fastener, you may want to knot the end. Under no circumstances do you want to touch the hot glue directly or place a metal fastener into it.
     
     
4. Individual entry forms must be firmly attached to the backs of all 2D artwork in such a way that they are not visible from the front.

Preparing 3D artwork for Display

Works that will not be hanging vertically will be placed on tables when necessary. These works must be heavy enough not to be blown away by a casual wind. We suggest that any such artwork be firmly attached to a sturdy and appealing base with the entry form attached to the underside of that base so as not to be visible from the top when displayed.