We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marianne/ Jamie Laury/ Wiechens. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marianne/ Jamie below.

Hi Marianne/ Jamie , thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

After working together for almost 5 years as freelance art handlers, we (Jamie & Marianne) decided to branch off to start our own art handling and fabrication company. We really loved the hands-on experience of installing artwork and having the opportunity to work directly with artists, but it was challenging to exist in an otherwise male dominated industry. We were fed up from repeatedly saying, “I know how to do (insert task here), thanks”. Having our skills and abilities constantly doubted was enough fuel to encourage us to take the first steps t0 starting our own business.

We honestly weren’t quite sure if we would be successful or not; St. Louis is a thriving art city, but a lot of the institutions had already formed relationships with the Costco/Walmart of the art handling industry. Despite all of the possibilities of it not working out, we were excited to try something new and infiltrate the system with a feminine twist. Plus- we had already bought a van to transport artwork in- so it simply had to work. Thanks to our amazing friends and family, the power of the internet, and word of mouth, we’ve been able to work with interior designers, estate collections, galleries, museums, private collectors, and emerging artists!

Marianne/ Jamie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

JM Fine Art Services/Bad Girllz Studio is a women owned business working to combat the male driven art-handling and art fabrication industry since 2020. It was founded by Jamie Wiechens and Marianne Laury, two practicing artists who love solving problems, making things not look generic, and tracking down the best roadside airbnbs and hotels during our art roadtrips. We can of course build a beautiful pedestal, install a painting that is perfectly level, or construct a custom, museum quality crate (which we paint purple!), but what we really pride ourselves on is saying yes to the odd projects! It feels really amazing to be able to tell an artist or collector who is ready to give up that we can make it happen.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Although we technically met working together at the Contemporary Art Museum, we recently learned that we were both one of the few audience members at a Yo La Tengo show in 2005. So perhaps we’ve known each other for a lot longer than we thought!

Any advice for managing a team?

Working on projects can be exhausting, frustrating, and often seem impossible to complete on time. It’s important to take a breather and remember that you have a partner who also cares and that you’re in it together with. Finding fun things to do in order to take a break is really helpful! Our favorite breaks include: riding scooters in Pennsylvania during a long road trip, making homemade ping pong paddles & tables in our studio, and prank calls. Also, keeping cold soda waters and snacks on hand at all times doesn’t hurt!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jmservices.art
• Instagram: @badgirllz_studio