Shipping your work to exhibitions and buyers sounds scarier than it is. Artists worry about their work being damaged during shipping, but I ship small, lightweight sculptures all over the place and I've never had a problem. The only problem I've ever had with a shipped sculpture was a porcelain relief sculpture that was dropped and cracked while it was being installed in a show in NYC, which could have happened even if I'd delivered it myself; it was dropped by someone working in the gallery. That being said, don't ever use the USPS for shipping art. The USPS is great at a lot of things, but shipping art isn't one of them. The USPS has limited insurance for art (<$1,000) and they're not careful with packages marked "Fragile", which is why many galleries and museums will not accept work shipped via USPS. FedEx and UPS are much better. With the ability to create and print shipping UPS and FedEx labels at home, the whole process is pretty painless.
Of course, you want to double box your shipment with 2" of packing between boxes and 2" of packing between your work and the box in all dimensions. Use bubble wrap instead of peanuts because many places don't accept work packed in peanuts. Use new boxes and the strongest possible packing tape. Get insurance. UPS won't insure a box that is old, battered or badly taped. If you do a lot of shipping, you'll start saving thick foam sheets and pads whenever you find them - new appliances, computers, TV's, electronics, etc. often come wrapped in great stuff.
If your work is too heavy to ship in cardboard boxes, hire a carpenter to make shipping crates for you. For framed paintings, drawings and prints, use Airfloat boxes.
Another thing artists worry about with shipping their work to exhibitions is the cost. While it's not cheap, it isn't too bad if your work is relatively small and light. I usually figure it will cost around $200 per show for shipping and handling. This is where it becomes critical to chose your shows wisely. There are hundreds of exhibitions and not all of them are right for everybody. The way I think of it is that each line of my resumé represents the expense of at least $30, which is a standard exhibition entry fee, just to exhibit my work. If I have to drive a long distance delivering and picking up, that's additional expense. I prefer shipping my work rather than driving if the distance is more than a couple of hours each way because gas is expensive and my time is valuable, too.
I plan to spend less than $1,000 a year on entrance fees and shipping. If you're on a budget, it's important not to blow your budget on shows you'll never get into. Rejections hurt your budget as well as your pride. I think of entry fees for shows I didn't get into as part of my ongoing education.
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