Custom Master
Framing
Over 6,300 mouldings sourced worldwide — gilt, hand-finished hardwood, museum profiles. Every mat, glaze and mount is archival, acid-free, and built to conservation standard for the work it protects.
Est. 1989 · Fort Worth, Texas
If it's worth framing at all, it's worth framing correctly — the first time.
Since 1989
Three decades of doing it once,
and doing it right.
For more than thirty-five years, Henson-McAlister has been entrusted with the Southwest's most significant works — from family heirlooms passed quietly between generations to museum-grade fine art bound for auction. Our philosophy has never changed: framing is not decoration. It is preservation.
The studio is housed in a 1938 concrete building — climate-controlled and secure — where every commission is treated as a single, considered act of stewardship. We frame a work once, correctly, so it is never handled twice.
I.
Trust
Your work is insured, secured, and never out of expert sight.
II.
Experience
Thirty-five years and the largest frame selection in the region.
III.
Care
Archival, reversible methods at every stage of the work.
1938Secure · Climate-controlled
What we do
A single studio for the entire life of a work.
From the first cut of a fillet to the acquisition of a major piece, the work never leaves expert hands.
Custom Master
Conservation
& Restoration
Sensitive treatment of canvas, wood, and metal objects — surface cleaning, consolidation, structural repair and inpainting. Reversible, documented, and carried out to the standards of the AIC.
Fine Art
Acquisition
Quiet representation and acquisition for collectors building, refining, or placing a collection. Discreet sourcing, condition assessment, and independent appraisal and insurance-valuation coordinated through our network of accredited appraisers.
Conservation Expertise
When a work has survived a century, the next decision matters most.
Conservation is patient, evidence-led work. We begin with examination and documentation, treat with the gentlest effective method, and use only materials that can be safely reversed. The aim is never to make a work look new — it is to stabilise it, honour its age, and return it sound for the generations who come after.
Canvas
Paintings on canvas
Surface cleaning, consolidation of flaking paint, tear repair, lining, and discreet inpainting under controlled light.
Wood
Panels & gilded objects
Stabilisation of panel and gesso, gilding repair, and structural treatment of frames and carved work.
Metal
Metal objects
Corrosion management, surface treatment and protective finishing for bronze, brass and mixed-media works.
How we work
Every commission follows the same considered path.
I.
Examination
The principal examines the work in person — medium, condition and history documented before anything is proposed.
II.
Proposal
A written treatment and framing proposal — options, materials and a fixed estimate, for your approval before work begins.
III.
Treatment
Carried out by hand in our secure studio with archival, reversible methods. Never rushed, never outsourced.
IV.
Return
Delivered with documentation and care guidance — sound, stable, and ready to hang for the next generation.
Selected Work
The Collection
A small selection of past commissions and treatments, shared with our clients' consent. Detail withheld to protect their privacy.
Henson-McAlister
Henson-McAlister
Henson-McAlister
Henson-McAlister
Henson-McAlister
Henson-McAlister
Henson-McAlister
Images are watermarked and protected — saving and right-click are disabled.
© 1989–2026 Henson-McAlister. All works shown with client consent. Reproduction prohibited.
Trust & Credentials
Standing measured in decades, not seasons.
1989
Established in Fort Worth, Texas
6,300+
Frames sourced worldwide — the largest selection in the Southwest
35yrs
Of master framing and conservation practice
1938
Secure, climate-controlled studio building
AIC
American Institute for Conservation
Members of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works — the professional body setting the ethical and technical standard for conservation in the United States.
SoG
The Society of Guilders
Members of The Society of Guilders, dedicated to the craft and preservation of gilding and fine finishing — a discipline at the heart of master framing.
Clientele
Quietly trusted by private collectors, museums, and those for whom a single work means a great deal.
We work by introduction and discretion. Whether the piece is a museum acquisition or a photograph that has hung in one family for generations, it receives the same standard of care.
Private Collectors
Museums & Institutions
Auction-House Buyers
Visit · Enquire
Request a consultation.
Bring the work, or tell us about it. Consultations are by appointment, unhurried, and without obligation.
- Studio
- 3308 West Seventh Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107 - Telephone
- (817) 332-1297
- Hours
- Tuesday – Friday · 10:00 – 5:30
Saturday · 10:00 – 4:00 · By appointment