Imagine that you are an artist—and you rely on a few commissions each year to pay your bills. You are excited to find out that your work was chosen by a museum to be on display for several months. You work incredibly hard on creating the exhibit and sign a contract with the museum that says they will insure your art while it remains on display. While showing your exhibit to a friend from out of town, you notice that a sculpture in the exhibit is damaged. You immediately contact the museum and request a plan of action: you want to see the security footage and you would like more information about submitting an insurance claim. The museum gives you the run around—they tell you that the security cameras aren’t operating, that there is no evidence to support your claim that your sculpture was damaged while on display, and that there is no insurance information they can provide for you at this time. The museum continues to be evasive when you ask about submitting an insurance claim, and you feel like you are getting nowhere. It does not seem as though the museum is going to submit an insurance claim on your behalf, and you know that the repairs will cost several thousand dollars and countless hours of your time.
Let’s imagine a similar scenario—you create a blown glass balloon that goes on display at a library as part of an exhibit. When it is shipped back to you, you find that it has been smashed to pieces. After months of attempting to negotiate with the exhibitor, you are then informed that the exhibitor’s insurance company does not intend to pay you the $8,500 worth of damages. This is a devastating blow to your work as an artist—not only do you now have to pay for the repairs, but you have to devote an incredible amount of time to restoring your artwork.
