Amazing chemical reaction erupts outside Catalyst!

Working in partnership with an artist to create optical illusion pavement art outside of Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum, has been an ambition of Catalyst’s for years. Giving free access to the local community to engage in a joyful, thought provoking, unique experience, to increase science capital and develop scientific knowledge.

This ambition, has been realised this year, thanks to funding from Dr Barrie Pennington and The Granada Foundation. Dr Pennington saw potential in the idea and introduced Catalyst to UrbanCanvas (Philip Battle and Catherine McMahon) UrbanCanvas – OutdoorArtsUK Northwest based pavement artists.

The artwork was formally opened on Friday 11th July by Mayor of Halton Councillor Martha Lloyd Jones and Consort Cllr Peter Lloyd Jones who were joined by Derek Twigg MP for Widnes and Halewood, and funders Dr Barrie Pennington and representatives from The Granada Foundation.

The fabulous illustration is truly representative of Catalyst, it depicts a large and well-known chemical reaction, the elephant’s toothpaste experiment. Catalyst is excited to bring this to the community of West Bank and Halton, and as far as they know there hasn’t been an anamorphic chemical reaction ever created before.

Lucinda Lewis, Education Manager at Catalyst said “At present the majority of the engagement opportunities at Catalyst take place within our building. We are a charity with no government or council funding so visitors have to pay admission to enter. We are working towards increasing our social value and community impact by delivering events outside, and plan to partner with other local groups to increase our outside offering. We recognise this to be important for a number of reasons- Catalyst aims to inform, educate and inspire all audiences in STEAM not just those who can afford to pay to come in. We want to build our reputation as a place for everybody, particularly our local community in West Bank. Everyone should feel welcome, included and confident to engage with us.” 

Irene Langford from the Granada Foundation said “The Granada Foundation is delighted to have been able to award a grant to support Catalyst’s anamorphic art project. It is an inspiring, clever and fun experience for all ages and a great addition to Catalyst’s mission to encourage young people’s interest in chemistry.” 

Much thought went into what this artwork would entail. The artwork;

- is unique to Catalyst, it represents our heritage and reflects the lived experience of people in our area (who’s ancestors most likely worked in the Catalyst building when it was Gossages Soap Factory or the chemical industry) 
- achieves Catalyst’s aims to educate and inform 
- creates a joyful experience.

This opportunity won’t be restricted to Catalyst’s opening hours either, visitors can engage with this piece during the evening or on days when Catalyst is closed. However, when open, Catalyst will be offering out props to enhance the fun, lab coats, safety goggles.

It is important that this is an opportunity to learn in addition to being a joyful experience. There should be lots to accidently learn just through participating.