Forstall Art Center and Custom Framing Available

Forstall Art Center and Custom Framing operates on 20th Street North in downtown Birmingham, functioning as a technical resource for archival framing, fine graphic illustration media, and conservation-grade mounting. The workshop addresses the structural demands of preserving works on paper, stretched textiles, and mixed-media illustrations. Rather than treating framing as simple room decoration, the staff analyzes the physical properties of each piece—such as paper expansion coefficients, ink sensitivity to light, and substrate moisture retention—to select mouldings, matting, and spacers that ensure chemical neutrality and mechanical protection over decades.

Handling original graphic illustration, technical drawings, and delicate fine art requires clear diagnostic procedures. When paper substrates like cotton rag, bristol, or handmade sheets arrive, technicians inspect the surface for friability, planar distortion, and existing adhesive damage. Mounting systems are chosen strictly to avoid irreversible adhesion. The team utilizes reversible conservation techniques, including Japanese mulberry paper hinges applied with starch paste, acid-free archival corners, or clear polyester mounting strips for rare prints and cyanotypes. Mat boards are strictly non-buffered or buffered acid-free cotton rag, preventing the lignins in standard wood-pulp boards from leaching acid into the artwork. Glazing choices prioritize optical clarity and physical barrier performance, pairing conservation-grade acrylic or museum glass with ultraviolet filters that block 99 percent of destructive light wavelengths.

Non-standard requirements regularly cross the design table, ranging from deckled-edge botanical prints to cradled wood panels and heavyweight acrylics. For works on deckled paper, technicians execute float mounts that suspend the substrate over a solid rag backing board, preserving edge topography while setting micro-spacers within the frame rebate to prevent the sheet from pressing against the glass. For deep structural art like Ampersand cradled panels or heavy stretched linen, the shop builds custom floater frames that support the substrate from the perimeter without stressing the canvas weave or masking paint margins.

Project intake begins with an evaluation where technicians take precise caliper measurements and inspect margin borders. Production cycles for standard framing generally require two to three weeks, subject to component milling and moulding stock availability. Artists and collectors bringing original illustrations or prints to the studio should transport items completely flat between rigid acid-free boards rather than coiled inside shipping tubes, and clients should establish preliminary wall-depth measurements beforehand to ensure the selected frame profile aligns with their display space.