There is a colorful crop of sunflowers blooming in downtown Washington and it is drawing all sorts of admirers.

Riverwalk Gallery is hosting a special art exhibit in conjunction with the inaugural N.C. Sunflower Festival, to be held at Raised In A Barn Farm in Chocowinity on Labor Day weekend.

The project is beneficial to both parties, according to Valda Belyeu of Riverwalk.

“I think we all need to work together as much as possible,” she said. “It’s a small town. The more we help each other the more everyone wins.”

When Riverwalk was first approached about assisting with the festival, Belyeu felt she had the perfect proposal.

“We have a great community exhibit area towards the back of the gallery,” she pointed out. “For the past four years we have been showing off different artists from eastern North Carolina. There is a lot of talent in our area and not everyone can rent space or give the time to be part of a co-op. This was a way to support a new business venture by Raised In A Barn Farm and promote the arts.”

The sunflower exhibition offers something for everyone.

“We have quite a few different mediums,” Belyeu said of the show. “I am really happy with the variety … photography, acrylic, oils, paper mosaic, resin and wire and mixed media/textiles.”

Everyone viewing the exhibition is asked to vote for their favorite piece. The show remains on display through the end of September and winners will be announced at that time.

“I think it’s fun to have a contest voted by the community,” Belyeu said. “It’s really interesting to hear people say what they like or don’t like about a piece of art. It starts a conversation about art and how you see it or look at the world. We are all in this same world/community together but everyone has such different perspectives.”

Riverwalk Gallery is located at 139 W. Main St. in Washington. The gallery is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.