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'The Murder Rate Collection' | Artwork against crime

There are 8 sculptures up now at the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum in Biloxi Mississippi.

NEW ORLEANS — An artist from Mississippi hopes to increase calls against violence through his artwork.

He's dedicating special pieces to raise awareness on New Orleans crime.

Each year he creates a sculpture that shows the current murder rate.
It's grim, it's dark, and it's supposed to start a conversation and stir emotions.

This year, there are already 65 glass faces that he made representing each person killed. The glass faces are placed on a bright red board that's draped with black prayer beads. 

He says the number of deaths is nearly 50 percent higher than they were last year.

Gaudet says he adds to that number every few weeks. He also tells me the number of people killed in 2021 is staggering. It's the most he'd done in a while.

Gaudet made 218 glass hands on a metal structure representing a life taken by violence. In previous years he's done drops of blood, bulls-eye targets, and fallen leaves.

There are eight sculptures up now at the Ohr- O'Keefe Museum in Biloxi, Mississippi. He never thought he'd be doing this after eight years and never thought the number would climb so high so fast.

"I want people to see a physical representation of how many people are killed," Gaudet said. "When I'm actually making the glass and putting them on the framework of the piece, it's upsetting."

The show remains open Tuesday-Saturday until June. 

   

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