An open invitation is out to all tattooists of Kitsap to hang works of art in any medium and of any subject in a showroom at the AFU hall dedicated to their imaginations. No human-figured limbs, chests, necks, stomachs, backs or other body parts will be tacked to the wall, beyond that, however, it’s pretty much all fair game.

With the show — opening with a party at 318 Callow St. inline with Bremerton’s June 1 art walk — centered on the art of tattoo, the Artists for Freedom and Unity will be calling a large part of Kitsap’s alternative art world into the gallery.

The once nefarious art form has gained lots of limelight in the past 10-15 years, still there are more than 10 tattoo shops in Kitsap with an average of two or three artists per shop, while very few, if any regularly show in local galleries.

No special shows of their nature have occured here since the Westside Burrito Connection’s tattooist oriented shows of about five years ago.

Enter: the AFU and its Tattoo You Art Show.

“I think it’s going to be fresh and different from what most people are used to seeing in a quote unquote art show,” AFU art chairman Gabriel Lee said. “It’ll be more like something you’d see in New York or LA not in Bremerton.”

It won’t be like walking into the lobby of a tattoo parlor either.

Show-goers are likely to see large and small oil paintings, perhaps some watercolors, marker or graphite. There may even be photography, pottery or sculpture. Any medium is welcome.

The works may or may not even be rooted in the tattoo culture, but for most tattooists, that is the basis, or even the muse of their creation.

“The influence is so severe, you can’t get away from it,” said Bo McConaghie of Silver City Tattoo, who is planning to enter the show. “But I don’t want to get away from it — 11 years later and I still love it like the first day I got my equipment.”

McConaghie’s experience with tattooing, dating back to late teenage intern days, spilled over into watercolors and then onto acrylics. Now a huge green hatted oil and canvas figure adorns his workroom wall hanging parallel to an equally large skull protruding out of darkness.

Just a glance of what may be. The show opens at 6 p.m. Friday.

Tattooists must be unique, creating a graphic signature that will draw attention and business. Tattoo work is deliberate and crisp and it carries tradition.

“I have great respect for skin art … with that you only get one shot,” Lee said.

Working with a paint brush and a flat surface and a few re-do’s instead of in skin and ink is almost as different as it would be to work with sculpture as compared to painting, McConaghie said.

But creative freedom is found at different levels in both, he said. Slices of it will be on display at the AFU throughout June.