Discovering Binzer's Custom Framing

Madison Main Street Program
19 hours ago
3 min read

Photo Credit to Kaylee Britton

There’s a reason Chip Binzer has been able to operate Binzer’s Custom Framing on Main Street for 30 years.

He has a unique empathy for customers and their art. That sense, coupled with his practical skills, allows him to create the perfect frame for every piece that is brought to him.

Jennifer Wells, a relatively new resident of Madison, is already a loyal customer. She has been bringing in paintings created by her family members, which have great sentimental value to her. “He helped me make selections unique to the pieces. He understood what I wanted. He got it.” He has even helped her make the most of unusual frames she has found at antique stores.

Photo Credit to Kaylee Britton

Chip understands art because he himself is an artist. He was an art major at Vincennes University and Indiana University Southeast, specializing in commercial art. He can tell you about the days before computer-generated images, when “cut and paste” involved X-Acto knives and hot wax coating machines to bring together the elements of an image. “I’m glad I got to do that,” he says.

After college, he worked a maintenance job in Cincinnati before getting a job offer from a frame maker. He helped that boss open and manage eight stores, but in 1995 he decided to return to his hometown of Madison.

He started his frame shop at 301 W. Main, the current location of Toppers on Main. In 2010 he moved to his current location. His showroom features interior flourishes that remain from the structure’s past occupant, the Artful Living design studio. The artsy feel suits his business perfectly.

Photo Credit to Kaylee Britton

Many of the commercial art techniques Chip learned at college have since been replaced by artificial intelligence, and his business has evolved to embrace that. As successful businesses do, he pivoted.

Now he often frames images that customers have created on their own computers or phones. He saw a need for larger, higher quality printing than people can achieve with their home printers. Five years ago, he purchased a large format printer to expand his services to these folks.

“To do business with all the AI stuff, my part in that is to be the final output that they can hang on their wall,” he says. “The public is creating its own art, and I’m the vehicle for printing it.” Some of the favorite subjects he sees are pet pictures or couples in AI-generated costumes and settings.

His spacious quarters in the old Koehler building also gives him room for woodworking tools that he can use to create custom frames for unusual projects. Recently, the city of Madison asked him to rework the frame on one of the mayors’ portraits that hang in city council chambers. The oil-on-canvas portrait is one of several mayors’ portraits painted by well known Madison artist William McKendree Snyder.

Photo Credit to Kaylee Britton

Chip was able to mill some aged poplar from a discarded ceiling joist from a home his son was restoring. After preparing the wood himself, he fashioned a frame that not only matches the other mayor portraits, but incorporates a piece of 19^th century Madison. Chip considers it a “full circle” project because the house restoration was being completed with the help of a PACE grant from the city.

Mayor Bob Courtney commented on Facebook: “Awesome work. The cycle of preservation and repurposing the materials for the mayor’s portrait.”

The project demonstrates the wide range of Chip Binzer’s skills, as well as his willingness to go the extra mile to make something meaningful for each client.

Anyone wanting to consult Chip or show him a potential project will find him in his shop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. The business is also open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The phone number is 812-273-3873 and the email is hello@binzerscustomframing.com.

For a look at Chip’s recent projects, visit Binzer’s Custom Framing on Facebook or Instagram or www.binzerscustomframing.com.

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