Science and art project for children launched in Bodmin

Children have a new space to experiment and learn about light, gravity, engineering and sound thanks to a couple's lockdown idea.

Reimagining Reality at Discovering42, in Bodmin, Cornwall, is the creation of Roy and Natalia Jones from Delabole.

The exhibition is "designed to spark curiosity in science with interactive artworks".

The project has been launched as a pilot and organisers hope it will become a permanent venue.

The exhibition took off thanks to a crowdfunder which raised £10,000 and £14,000 from the Arts Council.

Mr Jones, 32, who makes videos for charities, said the Reimagining Reality exhibition using recycled materials came out of "tapping our thumbs" in lockdown last year.

"We came up with this because Cornwall is one of the poorest parts of Britain and there's no way children can afford to go to Bristol or London," he said.

The couple, who have two children, commissioned five artists for the exhibition which is at Priory Park in Bodmin until 23 December, with the aim of becoming a permanent exhibition in the future.

"We had both felt for a while that we wanted to do something positive for our community," said Mrs Jones, 33.

"We had a list of ideas that we were often adding to, but it wasn't until we thought of setting up a science and art centre that it really struck a chord with both of us."

They wanted the event to be eco-friendly so materials have been recycled.

"It feels good to make use of things and it can be a beautifully creative process to deconstruct used objects into functional parts, shapes and patterns and to see the potential and beauty in things," she said.

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