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National Building Museum reopens with new exhibit honoring gun violence victims

The gun violence memorial project features four houses with 700 glass bricks each. It represents the number of people that die from guns every week in America.

WASHINGTON — Gun violence killed nearly 20,000 people in the United States in 2020, which is more than any other year in at least two decades, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

D.C. is already seeing a 30% spike in homicides in 2021 when compared to the same time last year.

The National Building Museum put the impact of the crimes center stage as it reopened in April.

“We look at these horrifying numbers and we forget the faces and we forget that there are families and that was a life that was cut short,” Cathy Frankel, with the National Building Museum said.

A gun violence memorial project features four houses each with 700 glass bricks.

“That represents the number of people that die from guns every week in this country,” Frankel explained.

The gun violence project, a free exhibition at the museum, aims to educate visitors and honor those who have been killed.

The memorial includes items and memories donated by the victims’ families.

“I think when you see these objects and you can connect that these were real people who were lost and families that will never see that person again – the impact of that and sort of what that means in our society, then hopefully people will leave here thinking about changing that and how they can participate in that change,” Frankel said.

The memorial is just one of several new additions to the National Building Museum as it reopened after 16 months.

“It looks very much the same, but we’re better than ever,” Frankel said.

The museum added a new visitor’s center and ticketing counter, new floors in the great hall, reopened the museum shop, and a handful of new exhibits.

The displays show everything from photography to featuring the work of a nonprofit architecture firm focused on public health, wellbeing, and human dignity.

The Building Museum reopened with strict COVID-19 guidelines to keep everyone safe and is not doing any of its hands-on exhibits or workshops.

The museum will be open Friday-Sunday between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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