You’ve probably viewed some of the best art in the world in museums without realizing that the piece went through Long Island’s Parthenon Framing & Printing to get there.
Based in Medford, Parthenon Framing & Printing started in 1975, with its current owners George and Joan Bubaris taking over in 2015.
Parthenon makes custom art frames for both commercial and retail clients out of their 10,000-square-foot facility. They employ up to 25 local craftspeople to make these frames.
Parthenon has worked with clients worldwide, and has done work in Panama, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Greece, and more.
“We did Sofitel in Panama City about a year ago,” George Bubaris told the Press. “A few years back we did a 3000-piece job for one of the Atlantis hotels in the Bahamas. We sent frames out to cruise ships in Italy. We sent out to England and South Korea as well.”
They do frame work for local artists, and they also do work for Northwell Health, Catholic Health, and the Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
Their Medford location makes it easy for them to do work in the entire New York metropolitan area, from Manhattan to the Hamptons.
Because of that wide breadth of New York clients, business is booming year-round for Parthenon Framing.
“Customer concentration on the island, especially the Hamptons, is busy in the summer and dead in the winter,” Bubaris said. “Compared to the city, where it’s dead in the summer but busy in the winter. So it’s a good balance. Medford is great because depending on the traffic, you can shoot out in either direction from here.”
Bubaris’s past experience in the restaurant business, he said, makes filling out custom orders easier for him.
“ I owned a diner at some point, and running a diner is basically doing customer on-demand manufacturing,” Bubaris said. “It’s not like fast food, where you throw it together and give it out. Each particular piece is different and custom.”
In addition to the custom frames, Parthenon prints as well, making it easier for artists and commercial clients to have all of their art display needs taken care of in one place.
They also expanded to retail recently, and opened a retail storefront in Southampton under the name Hampton Poster & Framing.
“Our next phase will be to serve as art consultants,” Joan Bubaris said. “Parthenon’s infrastructure and relationship with artists of various art forms allows us to work with designers and facility managers to make art recommendations for all budgets.”
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