Remember George Bush Sr.’s famous words, “Read my lips. It’s art stupid.” May be those weren’t the exact words, but they might have been if he was aware of Bremerton.

Did you think the Bremerton art saga would end with a few columns about murals and gallery walks? Bremerton is an art community – creating and communicating against odds.

Almost four years ago when I became a weekly columnist for the Kitsap Newspaper Group’s Patriot, the editor gave me a warning not to be surprised if I ran out of topics. He was trying to hold me back to a realistic once-a-month stint. “This is Bremerton,” I quipped. “I could write a column every day of the week and still have subject to spare.”

Bremerton and art run the gamut from rags to riches, laughable to tragic and to the genuinely epic. For example, this week as I was concluding some major sales business with California clients they whispered, “Do you want us to stick around? Will you be safe with those guys in here?”

They were referring to a couple young street artists waiting to show me their art. “They’re artists,” I whispered back to the clients.

Downtown Bremerton is one of the few areas in the Northwest that has a federal poverty classification. It is also one of the only official city deemed “arts districts” in the state of Washington. Bremerton is a relatively old city, and a bit notorious I might add, and it presents all the usual city characteristics.

This week I conversed with one of the nations top community development authorities. We agreed on most everything, but a certain point got lost in the jargon shuffle, as I expressed the importance of the arts to attract the brightest and best to the community. “Being close to Seattle solves that matter,” he said, and how could I not agree?

But a little feeling in the pit of my stomach questioned how going to Seattle for the arts puts food on the Bremerton artist’s plate.

It’s healthy that a town’s economic growth puts artists further to the perimeter, but in turn development has a responsibility to the arts. Some people couldn’t figure out why I pushed for the city of Bremerton to adopt, officially recognize and publicly proclaim that the area of 4th Street and Pacific Avenue within Washington and Park from 1st to 6th be an Arts District.

It’s a legitimizing tool for grant writing, it’s a plus for marketing and as the redevelopment projects plop right in this area, the arts can strut a little muscle power.

Remember our new one percent for the Arts? With over a hundred artists that exhibit or reside in the downtown Bremerton area, besides other artists and groups in the county, I don’t want a Kitsap County Arts Committee bringing in out-of-state artists, as has happened many times in the past, through other agencies.

It will be interesting to see what happens, especially in Bremerton where today, the art scene is the biggest game in town.