It isn’t exactly usual to squeeze 150 artists into the opening show of a small gallery. Neither is it usual to choose those artists purely via the Internet, or give away their work on craigslist.org.
But then, the Helm Gallery, opening Thursday on Broadway’s Antique Row, isn’t intending to do things the usual way.
The brainchild of Grand Cinema projectionists Sean Alexander and Peter Lynn, Tacoma’s newest gallery is starting out with a quirkily original direction and a calendar of hip artists.
The opening show, “The Kindness of Strangers,” was compiled by Alexander and Lynn posting requests on Internet sites such as MySpace and Flickr to find artists who were willing to send works on paper at their own expense. Later shows will feature artists who take up the gallery’s offer of a two-week artistic residency while their work is on exhibit in the gallery.
It’s clear from the artist lineup –which includes Nicholas Nyland/Ellen Ito in January, Chris Sharp/Zachary Marvick in December and Chauney Peck with recent Neddy Award winner Whiting Tennis in October – that the Helm is serious about bringing cutting-edge art to Tacoma. Yet the recent closure of small galleries Critical Line and Icebox indicates that just being cutting-edge isn’t enough in Tacoma.
So what’s different about the Helm?
“We’re going to be more organized, rotate shows every month, get people in here,” says Alexander earnestly. Covered in white paint, he’s just finished meticulously smooth-walling the high-ceilinged, former antique shop at 760 Broadway. The remodel has taken three months of hard work by Alexander and Lynn, in between work stints at the Grand. “Tacoma is in an interesting stage developmentally. We hope to offer focused and legitimate exposure to the newer collective mind-set of artists in areas such as Brooklyn, San Francisco, Los Angeles, et cetera.”
To finance the shows, and the rent, the Helm is also booking music shows in other venues. Last month they brought indie pop band Okay to Bob’s Java Jive and Club SOTA.
The gallery is for-profit but will, explains Alexander, offer community projects such as showing Tacoma School of the Arts student work during dead weeks between shows, and hosting off-the-wall events such as a planned TV-bashing party in October: Bring your own TV to smash up in the name of culture, and get free wall space to display anything you like in the gallery. There’s even a public mural project intended, with artists donating plywood mural panels, which the Helm will give away to local businesses on the craigslist Web site. Alexander already has three artists committed to it.
What shows the most originality is the way the Helm is organizing its exhibitions. The Internet call to artists is not unique, says Alexander, but unusual in that every entry was accepted, regardless of quality or sheer numbers.
“Sure, some of the work was really crappy,” laughs the gallerist, who draws himself and whose work will be in a later show. “And we ended up with 300 works by 150 artists. But the point was the concept, not the art so much. Some of it’s really wild.”
It was also a good strategy, as participating artists such as Nyland and Ito offered to present later shows. “It was absolutely the right way to start off; we met heaps of people.”
Also unusual is the residency scheme, which offers – again through the Internet – artists the chance of a two-week stay in Tacoma in return for a show. The free accommodation is in Alexander’s own apartment. “It has two entrances and a closed-off section,” he explains. Stephanie Toppin, a Houston painter coming in November, is the first to take up the offer.
Alexander acknowledges that Tacoma might be a difficult place to show edgy art. But, he says, if the art is ever to exist, someone has to show it. “We hope to become a serious fixture in the artistic development of our small and growing town,” he says.
Rosemary Ponnekanti: 253-597-8568
rosemary.ponnekanti@ thenewstribune.com
What: “The Kindness of Strangers,” group show of works on paper
Who: Helm Gallery
When: Opening reception 5-8 p.m. Thursday, then noon-6 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays and by appointment through Oct. 10. Next show opens Oct. 18.
Where: 760 Broadway, Tacoma
Admission: Free
Information: 253-686-2257, www.thehelmgallery.com
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