“Sunflowers on State” public art exhibit coming to State Street in March

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Come March, residents will be able to walk down State Street in downtown Santa Barbara and see six larger-than-life sunflower sculptures blooming.

The sculptures are part of a new public art exhibit that will be on State Street from March through May, according to Sarah York Rubin, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture.

The art exhibit was developed in tandem with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's Vincent Van Gogh exhibition, "Through Vincent's Eyes."

The flowers were fabricated by local artists and painted by students at Dos Pueblos High School, Goleta Valley Junior High School, La Colina Junior High School, Santa Barbara Junior High School, Santa Barbara High School, and San Marcos High School, according to Rubin.

Artists from the Environment Makers developed and produced the sunflowers at the Arts Fund Gallery in Santa Barbara, and community members were invited to join in the production of the flower petals during open workshop hours, Rubin said.

There will be a ribbon cutting for the exhibit on March 3 at 5 p.m. at the sunflower sculpture in front of the Old Navy on State.