Sold, wrapped and on its way: the team behind every sale at Art in the Park

"I love it. But I live in Christchurch."

Artists at Art in the Park hear it all the time. A buyer falls for a piece, then remembers the trip home, and the sale stalls.

At Eden Park, the artist has an answer. At the end of the checkout, PACK & SEND Takapuna is wrapping every sale and pricing delivery to anywhere in New Zealand or overseas. The piece goes to Christchurch. The sale goes through.

Jeremy Bain, PACK & SEND Takapuna

"Artists are running a business at that show, and a sale can stall on one question: how do I get it home?" says Jeremy Bain, who owns the store. "When a buyer asks, the artist just points across the room at us. We give the buyer a price, and the piece goes home."

More than a wrapping table

Art in the Park puts artists from all over New Zealand beside their own work, so buyers deal with the person who made it. PACK & SEND Takapuna has been part of it since the first show.

The basic wrapping is free for every buyer. PACK & SEND Takapuna donates the staff and the materials as its sponsorship of the show.

"People see us wrapping and think we're volunteers," Jeremy says. "We're not. We're the same people who'll pack your next piece and ship it anywhere in the world."

Next to the wrapping station is a desk where buyers get a delivery price on the spot, whether it's going across Auckland, to Wellington, to the South Island or overseas. Buyers who want to keep looking around can leave their piece with the team and collect it before they go.

Getting 3,000 works into a stadium

The work for PACK & SEND Takapuna starts well before opening night and finishes well after it.

Eden Park is a working stadium with a full events calendar, so getting artwork delivered on one set day is hard. The answer was to send it to PACK & SEND Takapuna first. The organisers' information pack tells artists to send their work to the store ahead of the show. Artists outside Auckland can take it to their own local PACK & SEND to be packed and sent up. Takapuna then takes it into the stadium and delivers it to each artist's space.

When the show closes, the team collects any unsold work, packs it again and ships it back to the artist's studio, wherever that is in New Zealand.

Speed matters

Jeremy has been to other art shows that wrap work themselves. "I've stood there waiting and listened to people's reactions when things take too long," he says. "Nobody wants to stand in a queue waiting for the piece they've just fallen for. Most people want to walk out with it. So we get it wrapped and back in their arms fast."

Trusted with work that can't be replaced

A lot of the art arriving at Eden Park is already in PACK & SEND boxes, packed by stores in towns and cities across New Zealand. Artists getting their work to the show often trust their local PACK & SEND to do it.

"Artists trust us with work that can't be replaced," Jeremy says. "That doesn't start at the show and it doesn't end there. We've been looking after artists, galleries and dealers for years."

Buyers get the same care. The piece they've just bought leaves the show wrapped by people who pack art every day.

This year the show brings together more than 140 artists and over 3,000 original works.

Art in the Park runs at Eden Park from Thursday 12 to Sunday 15 November 2026. Tickets are on the Eden Park website.