Let’s lay our cards on the table — this is what we have: Bremerton, a city in stalemate. A city that only wishes it had the ashes to rise from.

It’s as if the toy box fell over and the toys are scattered beyond reach. Then the big kids took the good toys and went home.

Bremerton may have lost its best toys — Penny’s, hourly ferries, first run movies, and a bevy of small shops, but it still has a sturdy toy box and that’s where we are at. But there’s a bonus to the whole thing. The box sits in a rare perfect patterned Persian rug.

So we have an empty city in one of the most prestigious locations in the world. Empty is Bremerton’s new beginning. An empty city means opportunity and low rent. Seattle is squeezing out its Pioneer Square artists. They need workspace and low rent and are looking to Bremerton.

The City of Bremerton sponsored an Artist/Loft Summit in September. The Amy Burnett Gallery presented an Artist Information Seminar in June. Both events attracted prime time media coverage and several hundred interested artists.

The stereotypical artist image was soon dispelled as serious adult artists investigated such things as foundry zoning requirements, community involvement, and transportation availability.

Several artists bought houses and over a dozen relocated to Bremerton. Add this to the artists already here and I’d say the empty box isn’t so empty.

Here’s the art “drawback.” Last summer, almost every day without exception, out-of-town artists came in the gallery looking for information about live-in studio space. They expected old empty warehouses in the ferry vicinity. Bremerton was never a warehouse town. Most artists need good ventilation, 10 ft. plus ceilings, a place to sleep and can afford 400 to 800 dollars a month. The last thing they want is a newly draped, newly carpeted one-bedroom apartment. That’s the present drawback. Artists need appropriate work/living space and Bremerton is lacking and codes are not accommodating. Funding is out there for city and community development that includes low-income housing.

At this “empty box” stage, let’s create the low income space for working artists. Most artists are in low income status, but they become an integral working part of the community. Their enterprises attract other enterprises and so goes the start of a boomtown.

(Editor’s Note: Amy Burnett is a well known local artist and the owner of the Amy Burnett Gallery in downtown Bremerton. She may be reached at (360) 373-3187.).