For three years, Lemonade Art Gallery has had a colorful presence on the corner of West Main and Respess streets in downtown Washington — and it’s about to get more colorful.

Lemonade founders Carol Mann and Sue Beck are officially welcoming eight new artists into the fold at a Friday night reception that’s open to the public.

Folk artist Ann Bell, acrylics painter Glenn Lampe, photographer MJ Peters and acrylics artist Barbara Van Vliet have joined the gallery, along with Teresa Cole Rogers, with her painted glass creations, and Sue Owens, whose canvas is not canvas at all, but silk. Ginger Gehres’ artwork was already a presence in the gallery and has now expanded to a booth where she not only displays her scratchboard and acrylics paintings, but creates them, as well. Carrie and Neil Manning are a different type of artist: their medium is food — the art of growing and canning it. With the young Pantego farmers come jams, pickles and vinegars.

“We’ve expanded from just an art gallery to carrying gifts as well,” Mann said.

The slate of new artists follows a pattern started by the founding partners — Beck, Jerry Bradley, Jan Lamoreux, Mann and Doris Schneider — that of bringing in artists with varying styles and mediums. It’s a formula that’s proven successful for the gallery.

“I think it’s because it’s so eclectic. We have a vast assortment of art, from abstract to realism,” Mann said. “One of the things that we try to do is be noncompetitive in our own gallery. We may have two watercolorists, but they’re different styles. We may have two jewelry makers but their work is very different. We’re very cognizant of that.”

While the artwork covering walls and artfully arranged in glass cases is the most evident aspect of the gallery, Beck’s jewelry making workshops and Mann’s watercolor classes have proven popular with budding artists. Mann teaches 60 students in four classes a week, with a demand for more.

“I’m supposed to be retired,” Mann laughed. “But I love it.”

As the gallery’s art has evolved over the last three years, so has its clientele, according to Mann.

“We are attracting a lot of tourists,” she said. “At first we were getting a lot of local people and now we’re getting a lot of tourists and people keep returning.”

Friday’s reception will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

It’s open to anybody, everybody. We may have 10 people; we may have 100 people,” Mann laughed. “When the food runs out, the food runs out.”

Lemonade Art Gallery is located at 158 W. Main St., Washington.