Your Person Art in Chattanooga: Canvas and Oil Painting Restoration
Your Person Art is a small independent restoration studio specializing in canvas and oil paintings, located in Chattanooga and focused on returning damaged or aged works to their original condition without altering the artist's intent.
What Your Person Art actually is
Your Person Art operates as a single-practitioner restoration workshop rather than a gallery or framing shop. The studio handles structural repairs (canvas relining, tears, and stretcher work), surface cleaning, varnish removal and reapplication, and inpainting of losses. The work is conservation-grade, meaning treatments are reversible where possible and documented for future restorers. This distinction matters: restoration prioritizes the object's longevity and authenticity; commercial touch-up does not.
The studio takes on family heirlooms, estate paintings, and pieces with historical or sentimental value. It does not restore prints, reproductions, or works on paper. Work typically requires weeks rather than days, and the studio maintains a waiting list during peak seasons (fall and early winter, when people often prepare collections for insurance or estate purposes).
Services and pricing
Consultation and assessment cost $60 and take 45 minutes to an hour. During this visit, you bring the painting, the restorer evaluates condition, documents damage with photos, and outlines treatment options with cost estimates. Many clients find this step clarifies whether restoration is worth the investment.
Pricing breaks into categories:
Surface cleaning (dirt, old varnish, grime removal) starts at $300 for a small work (under 12 inches) and ranges to $800 for larger canvases.
Structural work (canvas tears, relining, stretcher repairs) begins at $400 for minor tears and reaches $1,500 or more for extensive relining on large or valuable pieces. Relining, the most labor-intensive job, involves adhering a new canvas backing to support a weakened original; costs depend on canvas size and condition.
Inpainting (restoring losses where paint has flaked or worn away) runs $250 to $600 per session, with some paintings requiring multiple sessions. The restorer matches pigment and technique to the original work, a process that cannot be rushed.
Varnish work (removal of yellowed varnish or application of fresh protective varnish) costs $200 to $500 depending on complexity. Old varnish darkens over decades; removal can dramatically brighten a painting.
A complete restoration combining cleaning, structural work, and inpainting on a mid-size family portrait typically costs $1,200 to $2,200. Ask whether your insurance covers art restoration; some homeowner policies do if the work is documented.
How Your Person Art compares to other Chattanooga options
Chattanooga lacks a second dedicated fine-art restoration studio. The nearest specialist restorer is in Nashville, about two hours away. Local framers in Chattanooga (such as shops in the North Shore arts district) offer basic cleaning and conservation framing but do not perform structural repair or inpainting. Those services are competent for prints and works of lesser value but fall short for oil paintings with significant damage or historical importance.
Choose Your Person Art if the painting is structurally compromised, has loss or flaking, or requires archival-quality reversible treatment. Choose a local framer if you need simple UV-protective framing without restoration work. The Nashville option makes sense only if your painting is extremely valuable or you need a second opinion on treatment.
Who it suits and who it does not suit
Your Person Art is the right fit for inherited oil paintings that show age, family portraits with sentimental weight, and estate acquisitions you want to preserve responsibly. It also suits artists and collectors who prioritize authenticity and reversibility over speed or cost savings.
It is not the right fit if you need work in one or two days, if you want cosmetic touch-up rather than full restoration, or if your piece is a valuable museum-quality work that might warrant a restorer with published credentials or formal academic training. (The studio owner has extensive practical experience but does not advertise advanced degrees; ask about specific qualifications for high-value pieces.)
What the first visit involves
Call or email with photos and a brief description of the painting's condition. The studio will confirm availability and give you a time slot for the consultation. Bring the painting (do not clean it yourself beforehand; dirt can actually protect the surface). The restorer will examine it under raking light to reveal damage not visible in normal viewing, discuss what caused the damage and what treatment options exist, show before-and-after photos from past projects, and provide a written estimate.
From there, you decide whether to proceed. If you do, you leave the painting and sign a treatment agreement outlining scope and cost. Turnaround depends on the queue and job complexity; expect four to eight weeks for a full restoration.
Hours, parking, and logistics
Your Person Art operates by appointment only, Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The studio is located in a small commercial building with street parking. Verify current hours before visiting, as holiday closures or project deadlines can shift availability. The studio does not handle shipping; you transport the painting or arrange a courier if the work is elsewhere in Tennessee.
Restoration is not a commodity. Your Person Art's deliberate pace and single-owner focus reflect the reality that quality conservation requires skill, materials, and time that mass-market framers cannot match.
