Welcome to Shop Talk

robyn180
Nov 5, 2025
4 min read

If you've landed here, you're probably somewhere in the art world. Maybe you're an artist trying to figure out how to bring that big idea to life, a curator planning your next exhibition, a museum professional dealing with a tricky installation, or a collector wondering how to safely move a piece you love. Wherever you fit in, welcome.

This is Shop Talk, and it's where we're going to share the real story behind art fabrication and installation. Not the glossy version. The actual version. The one with all the problem-solving, craftsmanship, and yes, occasional head-scratching that goes into turning ambitious creative visions into reality.

Who We Are (And Why We Started This Thing)

Dan Alley, Owner and Founder of Denali Art Solutions

I'm Dan, and I started Denali Art Solutions here in New Orleans back in 2020. As an artist myself (my background is in glass and ceramics) I kept running into the same frustration over and over: finding reliable, high-quality support for ambitious art projects was nearly impossible.

You know how it goes. You've got this incredible vision, but then you need to find someone who can fabricate it, someone else who can crate it properly, another company to transport it, and hopefully someone who actually knows how to install it without damaging your work or the venue. It's exhausting.

So I decided to build the company I wished existed when I was scrambling to make my own work happen.

What started as a local art fabrication company here in New Orleans has grown into something bigger. Today, we're a full-service operation working with clients across the country, offering everything from art installation in New Orleans to national art transportation services. Our team includes fabricators, engineers, art handlers, project managers, installers, and craftspeople who all share one thing: we actually get what it's like to care deeply about how art comes to life.

What We Actually Do (And Who We Do It For)

Here's the thing – we handle every stage of an artwork's journey, so you don't have to coordinate five different vendors and hope they all show up on time.

Fabrication: Whether it's a 40-foot public sculpture or delicate 300-piece exhibition mounts, we custom works from metal, wood, cast materials, and more. Artists come to us when they need precision and the structural know-how to make wild ideas work in the real world.

Art Installation: We install 2D and 3D artworks of all shapes and sizes. That includes the technical stuff (rigging, leveling, securing) and the creative problem-solving that happens when you're standing in front of a piece thinking, "How exactly are we going to make this work?" Museums, galleries, and collectors trust us because we've been there before.

Custom Crating: Our archival-quality crates are designed for safe transport and long-term storage. Each one is custom-built to fit the work exactly, because when you're shipping art, close enough isn't good enough.

Art Transportation: Climate-controlled, white-glove national art transportation services – from New Orleans to nationwide. Our dual-driver teams and expert handlers make sure your work arrives safely and on time, whether it's one piece or an entire exhibition.

Museum & Gallery Services: We support institutions with mount-making, pedestal construction, casework, refurbishing, and on-site installation support. We work with curators and conservators who have tight deadlines and even tighter conservation standards.

Art Repair & Refurbishing: From weathered outdoor sculptures to historic pieces that need some TLC, we restore artworks with the respect and precision they deserve.

We work with everyone. Global brands to emerging artists, local galleries to nationally known art institutions – they’ve all come to us looking for specialized support.

Why We're Starting This Blog

Fabrication. Crating. Transport. Installation. Maintenance.

For most people, these are the invisible steps in an artwork's life. But to us? This is where the magic happens. And honestly, it's where most of the challenges are, too.

We're starting this blog because we want to pull back the curtain on how these processes actually work. The decisions we make, the materials we use, the problems we solve, and yeah, the mistakes we learn from.

Maybe you're an artist figuring out how to fabricate your first large-scale piece. A curator planning a complex installation. Or a collector who needs to move something precious and you're not sure where to start. If art is part of your world, this is for you.

We also want this to be a resource for brands and architects who want to incorporate art into their spaces but don't know how to make it happen practically. (Spoiler alert: start with a team that knows how to get it built, delivered, and installed properly.)

Most of all, we want to show you that working with an art installation company doesn't have to be stressful or intimidating. When it's done right, it's collaborative, transparent, and pretty fun.

What's Coming Up

We'll be posting once or twice a month with:

Behind-the-scenes stories from our fabrication shop and install sites, real project spotlights that walk through how we solved specific challenges, tips for working with fabricators (from both the artist and curator perspective), advice on when custom crating and climate-controlled transport are worth the investment, and best practices for planning installations that actually go smoothly.

We'll also share what's happening in the New Orleans art scene and introduce you to the people on our team who make this work possible.

Got something specific you want to know about? Drop us a line. When it comes to building, moving, installing, and storing art, we're here to help figure it out together.