WASHINGTON — Officials at the National Building Museum will keep measures in place to make sure their art installation is clean, after a patron reportedly caught pink eye when she visited the facility.
According to the Washington City Paper, Piper Grosswendt went to the museum on Tuesday and spent 45 minutes there with a friend. She says “The BEACH” — an interactive installation filled with several plastic balls — was crowded, but they didn’t come in contact with anyone else.
On Wednesday, the paper reports, Grosswendt noticed that her eye was red and went to have it checked out. She was diagnosed with bacterial pink eye. Grosswendt says she thinks she caught it at “The BEACH.” The nurse agreed.
Brett Rodgers, the Building Museum’s director of marketing and communications, says he hasn’t heard of any other illness at “The BEACH.”
He says those with contagious illnesses shouldn’t enter the installation. The exhibit is cleaned daily and the plastic balls are sprayed with an antimicrobial agent.
Rodgers says they vacuumed the carpet and have hand sanitizer stations.
“These measures aren’t new,” Rodgers tells WTOP. “These things have been in place since we started.”
