A human heart will be sculpted out of growing reeds in a ground-breaking project that will combine art and science on a nature reserve.

The ambitious scheme is the brainchild of Lewes-based artist Chris Drury and has been awarded £25,000 National Lottery funding, one of the largest Millennium Festival grants in the South-East, as well as funds from Lewes District Council and East Sussex County Council.

It will take three years to complete the preparation work and planting for the reedbed on Railway Land between Lewes station and the River Ouse.

But from Saturday the public will be able to see an exhibition of artwork for the Lewes Reedbed Project and voice their opinions of the proposals as part of the consultation process to give it the go-ahead.

On show will be a model of the planned sculpture alongside original drawings and designs by Chris and photography charting the project's progress by French artist Thibault "Tibo" Dhermy.

The unveiling of the project, a partnership between the artists, Lewes District Council, the Railway Land Wildlife Trust and Brighton-based River Ocean Research and Education, also marks the opening of a new gallery.

The Railway Land Wildlife Trust has long wanted to plant a reedbed in the area to create a species-rich borderland between land and water. The reedbed would be an important habitat for migrant birds, insects and plants which could be managed and harvested on a rotational basis and sold for compost.

Chris said: "I realised if they were going to plant a reedbed on the Railway Land you could see it from Chapel Hill and it was the perfect opportunity for a sculpture.

"I have never done anything like this before and it will be the biggest sculpture I have created although it is more like a design project really. I have worked like an architect with the environmental experts advising me about what is possible.

"The design is based on a cross section of the human heart. The tissue of the heart is affected by the rhythms of the blood and looks like a double vortex.

"The reedbed will benefit local people as they will be able to walk through it on a boardwalk and experience at close hand the 8ft to 10ft reeds.

"As we go into the new millennium it is very important we look after the planet for ourselves and make a stand on a local level and I think this does that."

The exhibition about the project is taking place in the new gallery which has been specially converted to open in time for the consultation.

The Thebes Gallery, in Church Twitten, was formerly the stable block belonging to EP Warren, the wealthy Bostonian who commissioned Rodin's world famous sculpture The Kiss. The stable is where the sculpture was banished to for 17 years after it was rejected by the town of Lewes.

Carole Buchan, arts officer with Lewes District Council, is one of those working on the project.

She said: "We have established a reputation for sculpture in Lewes. When we wanted to commission a permanent piece for the millennium we thought Chris's idea was perfect as it combines the visual arts, public art and the environment."

The exhibition runs until October 28.