What Art Services Does Gleason Fine Art Provide Beyond Exhibitions?

Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, offers four services beyond its exhibition program: fine art appraisal, art collection and consulting, guidance on conserving, framing, and shipping artwork, and personal delivery with hanging assistance. These services are available to collectors and owners of single works or entire collections, whether or not the artwork was purchased from the gallery.

Fine Art Appraisal Service

The gallery provides appraisal services for a single artwork or an entire collection. Dennis Gleason is a certified member of the Appraisers Association of America, a credential that matters when you need a valuation that carries weight with insurers, estates, or institutions.

When this is useful:

• Insuring a piece and needing a documented value
• Settling an estate that includes art
• Deciding whether to sell, hold, or donate a work

If you are unsure whether your piece warrants a formal appraisal, the practical first step is to contact the gallery with the artist's name, medium, dimensions, and any provenance you have. That information determines whether a full appraisal is warranted or whether a simpler consultation will do.

Art Collection and Consulting Services

Beyond selling individual works, the gallery advises on building and managing collections. This is a different task from buying a painting you like — it involves thinking about how works relate to each other, what gaps exist, and what fits a collector's goals over time.

The gallery's own inventory reflects the range this consulting draws on: roughly 35 contemporary Maine artists (Henry Isaacs, Tom Curry, and Kevin Beers among them) alongside early- to mid-20th-century works by Lynne Drexler, James Fitzgerald, and Abraham Bogdanove, plus the estates of Laurence Sisson, Martha Groome, and Dorothy Eisner. That mix of contemporary and historical material is relevant if your collection spans both.

Conservation, Framing, and Shipping Guidance

The gallery provides recommendations and information for conserving, framing, and shipping fine art. Note the scope: this is advisory — recommendations and information — rather than a statement that the gallery performs conservation or framing in-house. If you need work done, expect to receive direction on how to proceed rather than a drop-off service.

Shipping advice is worth asking about before you arrange transport yourself, particularly for works on paper or older pieces where framing and environmental conditions interact.

Personal Delivery and Hanging Assistance

For purchases, the gallery offers personal delivery of your fine art and help hanging it. This is a hands-on service rather than a courier arrangement, and it removes the two most common failure points after a purchase: transit damage and improper installation.

If you are buying a large or heavy work, ask about this at the point of purchase rather than after, since scheduling affects timing.

Visiting and Contacting the Gallery

The gallery was founded in 1985 by the Gleason family and has won Down East magazine's Best Gallery in Maine category multiple years.

How to Decide Which Service You Need

• You own a work and need a value on paper → appraisal service
• You are building or reshaping a collection → collection and consulting services
• You need to know how to care for, frame, or ship a piece → conservation, framing, and shipping guidance
• You have bought a work and need it delivered and hung → personal delivery and hanging assistance

For anything time-sensitive, the appointment option is the reliable route: the gallery is open year-round and accepts visits by appointment, so you can confirm availability before traveling to Boothbay Harbor.