Darell Bigner was cleaning his mother’s attic about five years ago when he came across a dusty box containing memorabilia from his career in the Navy Medical Corps.

The items – a pair of white gloves, gold shirt buttons and black ornamental shoulder pieces – brought back memories of his service from 1962-64 when he taught students in what is now the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute.  

Bigner and his wife, Rita, had the gloves, a certificate of appointment and photograph of Bigner in uniform sewn onto a mounting board and framed by Bull City Art & Frame Company in Durham. The keepsake sits on a bookshelf in Darrell Bigner’s office in Medical Sciences Research Building I. 

“It’s a better way to preserve those items than putting them away in a box for storage,” said Darrell Bigner, Duke’s E. L. and Lucille F. Jones Cancer Research Professor and Director Emeritus for The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center. 

Bull City Art & Frame Company specializes in museum quality custom framing of fine art, certificates and family treasures. The store in Durham’s Brightleaf Square offers a 10 percent discount on custom framing to Duke staff and faculty.  

The Bigners use the discount to frame pieces of local art, work by Russian-French artist Marc Chagall and lace doilies made by Darell Bigner’s mother. The Bigners appreciate the attention to detail that Bull City Art & Frame Company co-owners Tiffany and Lewis Bowles give to art from ensuring measurements are correct to matching frame colors with home decor. 

“The discount really does make a difference,” said Rita Bigner, administrative coordinator for Duke Neuro-Oncology. “Bull City is just fabulous. They go the extra mile to make sure you’re happy.”

Check out these other discounts for your next framing project. 

FastFrame

FastFrame offers a 15 percent discount on all framing orders. The business on University Drive in Durham frames artwork, photography, flat-screen TVs and memorabilia.  

J & J Frame Studio 

J & J Frame Studio has preserved art, photos, needlework and other objects for nearly 55 years. The Durham-based store offers 10 percent off of all custom frame orders.

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