Organization is bliss. Always know where your artwork is.
Chances are that all of your artworks aren’t in one central location.
It's paramount to know where your art resides whether you’re running a corporate art collection with works hung throughout dozens of offices in different states, managing a public art collection with sculptures scattered around the city, coordinating art across your university’s campus, or lucky you, keeping track of your prized pieces in your multiple homes.
And, sometimes the art leaves your possession—headed to storage, with an art handler, out for loan, or on tour for an exhibition.
An online art collection management system like Artwork Archive helps you keep track of your artworks’ current and past locations.
We’ll share not only how to maintain accurate location records, but we’ll also cover the benefits of doing so as well.
Easily assign pieces to their locations.
If you have an Artwork Archive account you can catalog your artworks and their important information, including locations, in one central online database.
When you create an object record, assign the work’s location. If the art moves locations, update the record and assign it to a new location. By doing that, you build out a rich history and provenance of the art.
Go even more granular with sub locations and tertiary locations.
While a Location record will work for most of your needs, there are times when you need an additional level of specificity about an item's location. Artwork Archive's location heirarchy gives you the ability to store even more detailed location-related information. You can track sub locations and tertiary locations.
For example, consider a large storage facility with multiple rooms and bin areas. The location hierarchy could be:
- Location: Storage Facility A
- Sub Location: Room 2
- Tertiary Location: Bin 20
This multi-level organization is useful for precisely tracking items across large facilities, floors, drawers, and any scenario requiring granular location details. For instance, if you work for a hospital art collection you can track not only the building, but the specific floor, wing, or office where the art resides.
If you have a colleague or an intern doing an assessment, they can easily find the artwork on the go with a mobile device. No more wandering streets or halls.
Sub and tertiary locations are available in Artwork Archive's Organization plans.
Track artworks that don't have an address.
Sometimes artworks are located in places without formal addresses—that could be a sculpture in a park or a mural in an alley. If you log the GPS coordinates for the artworks, then you'll always know exactly where the artwork is. And, GPS data stays true even as neighborhoods change—as buildings and streets evolve.
If you're a public art program, you can drive community engagement by making geolocations public. If you have an Artwork Archive Public Profile, then your entered GPS coordinates will sync to Google Maps. The Google Map link will be shown on the piece page and the Interactive Map. People can load directions to the artwork on their Google map app and direct themselves to the artwork easily.
GPS coordinates are available in Artwork Archive's Organization plans.
Add Location Record Notes.
Sometimes it's helpful to provide context and detail around the artwork's location. With Location Record Notes you can record that the artwork is hanging next to the elevator or is installed infront of a north-facing window.
Store important location-related documents.
Have a floor plan or blueprint for the buildings that house your artwork? Upload any type of file to a location record so you always have key documents on hand.
Track art that is on loan.
An artwork’s home is not always permanent. Always know which gallery or venue is showing your work. And, provide that group with a cohesive report. Learn how easy it is to generate an inventory list.
Before you send off the work, note its condition, attach waybills to the object record, and save the contact for every shipment.
Add the shipment and set a reminder in your Artwork Archive account so that you can sync it to your calendar and receive weekly notification emails. Never miss a delivery or lose a piece in its transport.
If you’re looking for best practices to tour your corporate art collection, get tips here.
See Location History.
Location History within your Artwork Archive account logs where your art has traveled and in what galleries and locations it has been exhibited. See it all in one, organized place.
Selling artwork? Track revenue performance.
If you’re selling or gifting works from your collection, you can also see where they are going. With Artwork Archive’s Sales tool, you can track your sales by location.
Gain insights into your collection and see the value of your works by location.
Assigning pieces to locations allows you to see where your art is across the globe.
With Artwork Archive’s Insights tool, you can see your collection’s physical distribution on a map. You can see the net worth of your art assets by location. This is helpful for insurance and financial purposes.
Record and build your collection’s rich provenance.
By tracking all past and current locations for your art, you are doing your due diligence to establish a detailed and cohesive provenance for the artwork. So often collectors neglect to record key information about their artwork which ultimately hinders the value and authenticity of the art.
By tracking locations, you are preserving the rich legacy of your artworks and collection as a whole.
Are you a visual learner? Watch our video about Artwork Archive locations here.
Stop questioning where your artwork is located maintain a knowledgable grasp of your collection.
Share the artworks' locations.
If you're a public art program or a nonprofit that creates and shares art resources for your community, you can easily share your artworks with the public. With Artwork Archive's Public Profile, you can make particular works and information (like location) public.
People can use the Map View to search your collection and plan visits to particular works. If you include GPS coordinates, then a Google Map link will populate on the Public Profile—giving the public directions to the exact spot where your art is located.
You can also embed the Public Profile onto your website so that your website is up-to-date with your inventory, without double entering information.
