The show features works motivated by the rural and agricultural setting surrounding Alliston and into the hills and pastures of Adjala-Tosorontio.

The Alliston Potato festival provided the spark for the idea for the new show.

"We wanted to expand on the Potato Festival to include our agricultural area," explained Gibson gallery committee co-chair Susan Hindle. "The committee meets monthly to discuss ideas for the gallery and part of the mandate of the gallery is to do exhibits that are a part of the community. We thought it was important to celebrate our agricultural roots."

Local artists were eager to take part in the show when the call went out for works of art with a rural theme. Some provided existing works and others created new pieces specifically for the exhibit.

"A total of 14 artists are taking part," Hindle said. "We have oils, acrylics, mixed media, weaving and we also have wooden models."

Ken Lancaster created the small, highly detailed models of farm machinery that are exhibited in a protective glass case.

Sandy Nemenyi, Lillian Kletke, and Nathalia Sugden, are artists who have been involved with the Gibson Centre since its inception.

"I've been weaving for about 15 years. Then, from that I got into bead weaving," said Nemenyi of her unique contribution to the show. She has several works of finely detailed bead weaving on display in the gallery.

For Sugden, inspiration flowed from her surroundings. "It could be anything this good earth provided," she said of the criteria for the exhibit. "I had thousands of ideas, but not enough time." Sugden works with fiber collages.

Kletke's works were created expressly for the Good Earth exhibit. "I did two specifically for this show," she said. But her evolution as an artist is a continuous journey. "I keep finding new challenges. "

The show is complemented with some antique farm implements and a paper mâché cow that may not be one of the exhibits but it certainly reflects the tone of the show's theme.

The centre is currently working towards a varied exhibition schedule fo 2009 which will include a mix of themed exhibits along with group and solo shows featuring artists from both the local community and abroad.

The Good Earth exhibit will be on display at the Gibson Cultural Centre through to Sept. 3.