Cultural Development Co-ordinator Jessica Moore says the exhibit was an endeavour long in the making.

"This is the first exhibition of Fresh Arts that we've shown in about 10 years, they're a collective who work locally, so a couple of years ago we decided it was time to do a show with them, so we worked with the group over many months to pull together works that each of the artists felt best articulated their practice," Ms Moore said.

The exhibition, was already gone up for viewing, will be held until October of this year, and features the work of 16 artists in total, with a number of different artforms being practiced.

While easing COVID-19 restrictions has allowed the centre to open up exhibitions again, visitor attendance will be strictly by way of registration for the time being, with art lovers able to register online, or at the reception desk.

Pauline Griffiths, who lives in Dubbo and is one of the artists whose work is featured in the exhibit, worked with fabric prints to examine the shapes found in dissected fruit for her contribution to the centre's reopening.

"Sienna-type printmaking is an old style of printmaking, where the fabric is treated with sun-sensitive chemical, and from that, I transfer an image that has been drawn, or you can use other things from the environment such as leaves, and you lay them onto the sun-sensitive fabric and expose it in the sun for 15-20 minutes, then wash it in cold water which stops the chemical reaction, and you end up with a white image on the blue fabric," Ms Griffiths said.

Artist Rae Ayling, one of Fresh Arts past contributors has returned with an intensive new way of producing art in order to provide more of a challenge to an experienced artist such as herself.

"I decided to do something different, so I started with a photograph, and I altered the photograph digitally, and from there, I printed it onto a piece of watercolour paper, then I painted it, then I took a scan of it and I had them printed on a large sheet of watercolour paper, then I painted it completely, so I've painted it three times, it's a long process, but I've actually enjoyed it," Ms Rae said.

The exhibition will provide a lifeline for artists from others areas to display the work they've been producing during isolation, according to Dubbo Regional Council's mayor Ben Shields.

"These artists have come from not just the Dubbo region, but Warren, Gilgandra and surrounds. DRC is proud to be able to support these artists and provide a space for them to exhibit their works."

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