IT IS CERTAINLY a bumper summer of art with scores of superb and must-see exhibitions running across the region.

Another in the frame is the South Lakes Arts Collective show, lining the illustrious walls at Kendal Museum.

The theme of the exhibition is Edgelands, apparently suggested by popular Kendal printmaker Jamie Barnes. The group agreed it was an exciting and challenging theme which would provide an eclectic mix of interpretations.

Edgelands can be seen in spatial terms such as the boundaries of country and town or in temporal terms as the transition from past to future. It can also be as a psychological term as the boundary between dreams and imagination and reality.

South Lakes Arts Collective consists of painters, mixed media artists, photographers, digital artists, printmakers, ceramicists, sculptors, poets, potters and musicians, totalling 480 members.

And the artists in the collective have produced a diverse, thought provoking, high calibre exhibition which fits well with the theme.

For Edgelands - which runs until August 31 - the collective welcomes back Jan Gardner, who exhibited with SLAC at its last exhibition Without Boundaries, at Barrow's Dock Museum. Jan lives and works in Wales. She is a graduate of Winchester School of Art and is well regarded on the regional and national scene.

Another hugely gifted artist exhibiting in Edgelands is Catherine Macdiarmid; Catherine recently reached the semi-finals of Sky Portrait Artist of the Year.

The full line up includes many terrifically talented artists from Cumbria's creative world, including Rachel Greenbank, Faiqa Aslam, Diane Meth Cohn, Beki Harrison, Claire Griffel, Sarah Dodd, Evelyn Sinclair, Tony Birchwood, Sheila Levi Watkins, Tim Leeson, Denny Derbyshire, Joan Keerie, Charlie Downes, Diana Merrick, Gillian Slater, Danny Clahane, Marianne Birkby, Marilyn Hale, Monica Metsers, Iain Greenwood, Zoe Dixon, Grant Aspinall, Tracey Escolme, Anna Jordison and Kathryn Stevens.

Tim Leeson, the collective's coordinator alongside Denny Derbyshire, said that yet again the collective had "come up trumps" in terms of quality and diversity. He added: "We are very happy with the standard of work we are exhibiting and we are over the moon that we have a broad spectrum of artists and methods and processes on show."

Denny added that Kendal Museum was a place where nature and history met, so it was kind of an Edgeland in itself. "In terms of venue Kendal Museum is the perfect setting for this diverse and interesting exhibition. We feel we have provided an exhibition which thoroughly explores the theme."

Kendal Museum is open Thursday-Saturday, from 10am-4pm.