I have spoken before about showing art out of town, especially in regards to shipping work and overall things to consider. This post is devoted to the topic of hand-delivering work out of town.
Sometimes, a piece is too bulky or fragile to ship. This doesn't mean that you cannot show it out of town, but that you will want to consider how you will get it to the venue very closely. I have hand-delivered several pieces over the course of time. It can be quite nice to do so as it affords the opportunity to see the gallery in person and to meet some of the people who work and volunteer there. It helps to put face to names and can thus ease difficulties in communication.
However, hand-delivering works creates its own set of hassles and problems. Make absolutely certain that you arrive on time and have maps, understandable directions and gallery contact information, in case you get lost or detained in traffic.
It is good to let the gallery know in advance that you will be hand-delivering work and on what day you plan to do so. Nothing can be more frustrating than arriving at a venue during the appointed time only to find that no one is there to accept your work, especially if that venue is two hours away. That is much less likely to happen when they know to expect you, though.
Letting the gallery know when you'll be coming is especially important if the gallery is keeping open hours when they would otherwise be closed (between shows, for example). I have neglected to inform galleries of my hand-delivering work on occasion. This can cause issues even if the gallery said that they would be open (someone may have gone out on break; they may not have had volunteers at a certain time; they may have forgotten...). From personal experience where I assumed that someone would be present and that the information I had was correct, arriving only to find the venue closed and no one there to take my art, I can say with certainty that it is good to be certain that you are expected.
It is also wise to check and see if any other artists from your area will be delivering work for the show. This weekend, I was once again reminded of this, having driven to Chicago to drop off a piece right after another St. Louis artist in the show did the same! I hadn't even thought to ask if there were any other St. Louis artists represented, but now I wish that I had done so. Typically, I will try to carpool artworks if at all possible because it is much more efficient to do so. I have even been known to take works for several artists for jurying, knowing fully well that we would be in direct competition, because I so strongly believe in helping each other out and in being as efficient as possible.
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I neglected to mention one other thing that I try to do as much as possible when hand delivering work, and that is to maximize each trip I make. If I learn of overlapping shows or can work with multiple galleries on the same trip, I will try to do so if at all possible. It increases efficiency and makes each trip count for more when you can deliver works, attend receptions and pick up pieces from multiple shows all in the same trip.
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