Save the container and any internal batting or supports when the art initially arrives at your location. Check to see if the artist has included a list of instructions for assembling the work, if any, or any special considerations for packing the art when you return it. If there is no list, make notes on how the item is packed, how the piece was supported and protected within the packaging and any other pertinent details, save it in the container and store it in a secure, dry location.
Disassemble the artwork to the condition it was when it arrived, after it has been shown. Pack it in the original shipping container according to the notes you made when it arrived, wrap it in craft paper and ship it by the most efficient method back to the artist.
Consider the needs of the art, if you no longer have the original container or if you don't know how it was originally packed. Framed art works should be shipped in their frames, with the corners of the frames padded with cardboard wedges to prevent chipping. Works susceptible to smudging, such as chalk or pencil sketches, should be encased between two sheets of glassine which are then sealed on the outside with tape. Unframed canvases can be rolled on a small cardboard tube, wrapped in a protective material (glassine or smooth fabric) and put into a larger shipping tube. Any artwork that must be disassembled to ship or that is three dimensional, such as a sculpture, should be placed in an art crate and the empty space filled with spacing material, such as bubble pack.
Label the outside of the package and ship through the most secure and efficient service. In general, the faster the delivery, the fewer people who handle the package, the less potential to damage it in transit, so choose the quickest shipping option available to you. Fed Ex and UPS offer next day shipping, but do not deliver to P. O. Box addresses. If the address you have been given is a P. O. box, the USPS offers first class shipping. First class shipping has a delivery time of 1 to 2 days.