5x5 Public Art Project

In April, 2012, the National Building Museum is participating in the 5x5 Project, a temporary public art initiative sponsored by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities. It features twenty-five groundbreaking temporary installations on display concurrently throughout the District of Columbia.

The Museum's installation, located at the west/5th St. side of its 2nd floor balcony, is a unique viewing mechanism entitled "Spore." According to curator Richard Hollinshead and artist Ben Jeans Houghton the piece is "...both an enigmatic object overlooking the National Building Museum’s Great Hall, and a viewing device through which something unseen yet fundamental is revealed within that space. In biology, once a single spore is released it has the potential to develop into a new organism, and similarly the Spore artwork promotes a shift in the way we perceive our everyday environments."

Entrance to the Museum's Great Hall to view "Spore" is free and open to the public during the Museum's hours of operation. Plan your visit.

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