Phil Roach, "Points of Departure" at The Helm Gallery. Photo courtesy Sean Alexander.

The Helm Gallery is closing. For two years gallerists Sean Alexander and Peter Lynn have brought Tacoma some of the best, the funkiest, the hippest and the weirdest of local and national art--usually 2D, but some installations and sculpture. And now, as of May 31, the trip is over. Money has been tight for about a year for the commercial art space, and their lease is up.

"We're not that sad," says Alexander. "It's been a good learning process, and good to move on."

Alexander will be moving on to a new residence at Longbranch on the Key Peninsula, where he's going to work on his own art (fine-texture drawing) and create an artist residency program with fellow-artist Micah Tucker. Lynn plans to do more study, and look for a new job. Both men left their projectionist jobs at The Grand Cinema three months ago. They'll also collaborate again on their Squeak and Squawk indie music festival, held last year at The Helm and this year at multiple other venues.

To go out with a bang, The Helm will hold one last seven-day show featuring mixed-media artist Phil Roach (above), beginning with a reception next Thursday night. Roach's "Points of Departure" include luggage installations with fish-eye lenses to view dioramas constructed inside.

Says Alexander: "We didn't plan for our last show to be one of luggage. Sometimes that stuff works out funny."

"Points of Departure" opens 6-9 p.m. May 21, then by appointment through May 31. 760 Broadway, Tacoma. www.thehelmgallery.com

If you're down by the Pantages today, tomorrow and Thursday, you'll probably notice all the buses transporting thousands of schoolkids. They're downtown listening to the Tacoma Symphony's annual Simply Symphonic concerts.

So there's nothing particularly new about orchestras giving schools concerts, but the TSO's program is admirable in both academic reach and sheer size. Around 4,500 fifth-graders from 82 schools and 13 districts in the South Sound--up 12 per cent from last season--will hear the orchestra play Offenbach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach and more this week. It's a program that recently won the TSO The 2009 Impact Award from The Nonprofit Center.

But as well as reaching so many kids, the orchestra's program does it in a way that both complements their school learning and gives them a taste for classical music. Classroom activities and a learning CD prepared by TSO conductor Harvey Felder link music to patterns and structure in math, architecture and poetry. Teachers also report that the classical concerts, which for many students are the only ones they've ever been to, also calm worries about deployed parents and uplift imaginations through the Pantages' beauty.

Says TSO executive director Andy Buelow: “These fifth grade students are among the most engaged audiences I’ve ever encountered. Nobody has told them yet what kinds of music they’re supposed to listen to and like, and they come...with open ears and minds.”

And all of this only costs each student $3: The rest of the $20 per-child cost is borne by sponsors and the TSO itself.

And if anyone thinks that classical music is for old folks over 35, think again. Here's what one student said from last year's concert:
"On our concert day I was really feeling kind of sad, but when I walked into the Pantages Theater, that frown turned upside down. The instruments looked strange to me. I’ve never seen some of them before. Mozart is my favorite composer and I loved the music that you played."

What's the next step? My suggestion is downloadable TSO tracks at www.tacomasymphony.org, and low-cost kids concerts open to the public, so parents can find out how cool it is too.