On July 29th, a massive New York attraction opened its doors to the public — for a limited time only. The extremely popular Museum of Ice Cream, at 100 Gansevoort Street in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, offers visiting opportunities only up until the Fourth of September, when the pop up museum will close its doors. This summer attraction has been wildly successful, with tickets selling out completely within a week of being up for sale and lines extending down the street daily in anticipation for admission.
While one ticket grants admission for only an hour, that’s plenty of time to cram in every last one of the museum’s attractions. The small museum consists of 50 pieces of artwork inspired by the dessert and curated by a collection of designers, artists, and “ice cream experts,” as well as a series of interactive displays. As the entire museum consists of six rooms in total, it is designed to be experienced in under 40 minutes, in a visit that is short but extremely sweet.
Immediately upon entering, any visitor will agree that the museum lives up to it’s name, as they are greeted right away with a complimentary ice cream cone. Asked to remain in the lobby as they enjoy their treat, visitors can read the mission statement from founder Maryellis Bunn plastered across the front wall, or can take a moment to enjoy some of the first pieces of artwork showcased in the museum. Following this first step, guests are then welcomed into a second room, featuring more artwork, a
Photo: Molly Doomchin
wall of hanging ice cream lights, and the first interactive display- an edible sugar
balloon station, where attendees can suck the helium out of their creation and then munch away at the delicious sugary facade. Moving on, guests are encouraged to contribute to the “world’s largest ice cream sundae,” adding their own scoop to a towering pile mounted on the wall, and then ushered into a chocolate scented, chocolate filled room, created as an homage to the sugary substance. (Free chocolates are, of course, offered to those who pass through.)
Proceeding onward, visitors are introduced to what is perhaps the most popular and well known attraction in the museum- a sprinkle pool, filled with enough sprinkles and complete with a diving board and pool toys. With candy mounted
along the wall, it’s only one of many fantastic photo opportunities in the museum, and one of the last stops on the tour.
Photo: Molly Doomchin
Finally, guests are encouraged to undergo a delicious sweet and sour experiment before they leave the museum. Facilitated by “food futurist and overall rad scientist Dr. Irwin Adam, founder of Future Food Studio,” guests are shown a facinating way to convert sour to sweet- a trick which is proven by a delectable (and beautiful) final ice cream cone. Encouraged to walk around and enjoy a room full of artwork as they eat their ice cream, visitors can then begin to exit the museum –though not before stopping by the stand selling all kinds of sweet treats by the exit, and a room full of photo opportunities including an ice cream scooper see-saw, a backdrop wall of sprinkles, and a gigantic ice cream sandwich swing large enough to comfortably fit four.
The visit isn’t very long, but guests are guaranteed to leave with full stomachs and a satisfied sweet tooth. While tickets are currently sold out, those hoping for a chance to visit the attraction before it closes can sign up for ticket updates by leaving their email on the museum’s website, and can in the meantime take in many of the exhibitions by scrolling through the official Museum of Ice Cream Instagram. All in all, the Museum of Ice Cream is the perfect summer treat, with it’s creator Maryellis Bunn stating that “Here, the aim is happiness!”
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