Kaleideum: Where learning and fun collide Interactive, hands-on museum schedule to open this weekend

On Saturday Feb. 17, the public will have their first chance to experience what happens when experimental science and an art gallery collide when Kaleideum opens in downtown Winston-Salem.  A combination of the words kaleidoscope and museum, Kaleideum is the result of the 2016 merger between SciWorks, a science museum, and the Children’s Museum. Located in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem on W. Third Street, the distinctive museum can be seen from a distance. Painted in a reflective white base color, covered in colorful shapes and patterns, construction for the five-story, 70,000 sq. ft. museum cost about $48 million, with most of the funding coming from Forsyth County and a fundraising campaign.  While the architecture of the building instantly catches your eye, it’s what’s happening inside that will keep visitors of all ages coming back.  The museum features nine different exhibit areas that perfectly blend fun and learning. For example, in the “Wonders of Water” exhibit, you can experience water in all its forms by controlling a waterfall, sculpting an ice block, and playing with light in a tunnel of fog. You can also create your own fish and add them to the digital aquarium. In the “By Design” exhibit,...