In meeting with commercial clients, Ann focuses on how a company lives and works in their environment and what message the art will ultimately convey about their business. She works closely with clients to develop a collecting strategy that both enhances their public space for employees and clients, and gives a sense of their personality and mission. Clients include financial institutions, realtors, hospitals, medical facilities, and advertising firms.
Ann is equally comfortable working with existing spaces or ones still in blueprint form. She is familiar with all mediums, including original pieces of fine arts and reproductions, painting, prints, photography, and sculpture.
After consulting with the client and researching options, Ann presents a range of options. Once works of art have been identified, she handles all details of the acquisition through local and national galleries, auctions, the internet, or the artist. Ann has extensive connections to museums and galleries, providing access to knowledgeable experts to advise and guarantee the integrity of the art. Her ultimate goal is to help each commercial client create a space that reflects their particular mission.
Working with clients and designers, Ann helps to evaluate and reenergize an old space or define a new one. For example, she curated and facilitated acquisition of one hundred and twenty five pieces of art for a multi story building in San Francisco. ABR managed this project from blueprints to final installation, featuring an array of artists and mediums to create a space which reflected their commerical culture.
The frame can make or break a work of art. Ann advises on framing new acquisitions to give them their best look as well as evaluating current pieces in a commercial collection which just may be in need of a new presentation or a potential location change.
ABR Services works closely with the Metropolitan Frame Company. Metropolitan Frame is deeply involved in both the regional and national markets, working in the National Portrait Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Institute and even the White House.
Ann also also works with a professional installer for placements that include a more complicated layout or for large scale pieces that require more expertise in mounting.
For designers, ABR is an ideal partner, listening closely to what direction the client wants to go in and working with the designer to come up with suggestions to fulfill their client’s aesthetic vision. Her familiarity with all mediums as well as her many connections to artists, galleries, and museums make her a tremendous resource. Ann will present options directly to the client or the designer, always considering the color, scale, and feel of the piece in regards to what the client wants. She works with both existing spaces as well those in the conceptual phase, keeping in mind the overall aesthetic direction of the project and ultimately the feel of the room.
Ann works with designers on every detail from facilitating acquisition through a variety of means (galleries, internet, or auctions), advising and handling the framing at the client’s request, considering placement in a room or office, moving whatever is needed to take advantage of the space and light, and finally working with a professional installer if needed to complete the process.