For nearly two decades, River Walk Gallery and Arts Center in downtown Washington has given artists a place to display their craft. It’s a place where out-of-towners look for that perfect take-home gift and where artists come together, joined in the common goal to promote the art and artists of the region.

Four new artists have been added to River Walk’s ranks of late. With them, come watercolor paintings, jewelry crafted from found objects and photographs spread across wide canvases.

There’s Cris Treharne’s jewelry — each piece one of a kind whether a necklace of handmade polymer beads or another, constructed of sand dollar pieces, silver and polished beads. A U.S. Navy veteran, Treharne’s work was inspired by the many years spent beachcombing in numerous ports of call across the world.

Bath resident Marcia Fischer is not only new to River Walk, but relatively new to painting as well. It wasn’t until she and her husband retired to the area in 2011 that Fischer began taking painting classes, taking on watercolors and the beauty found in nature, and at the end of her paintbrush. Since, her work has won several awards, including at the Watercolor Society of North Carolina’s annual show.

Reaching outside the standard framework of photography, Jennings Mitchell’s panoramic images capture landscapes and cityscapes, small towns in Washington’s Main Street; large cities in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

For watercolorist Gale Champion, being juried into River Walk is a goal met. The Washington artist has always been an artist, but it wasn’t until she retired that she picked up the paintbrush full-time. Now, her work is on display full-time at River Walk.

“I had three daughters, rearing a family, I was working full-time and when I retired it gave me the time to concentrate on my painting,” Champion said.

The transition from teacher and business-woman to painter, however, was easy, she said.

“Even as a child I always had an artistic incline, so it was very natural for me,” Champion said.

Champion’s work has also taken a new turn lately, as she’s moved to a process that uses spray watercolor paints over a gauze-like webbing to create multi-dimensional, textured backgrounds for her paintings. It’s a process that can define the rest of the work: as Champion will study the kaleidoscopic background, sometimes for weeks, before the focal point of the painting makes itself known.

Champion, who spends half the year in Blowing Rock, where she also has work in galleries, and the other half in Washington, said she believes River Walk’s longevity is a testament to its proven success as a gallery.

“The ultimate goal of any artist is to show their work in a gallery and what better place than River Walk, right here in Washington?” Champion said.