Museum of Ice Cream to Rock New York This Summer With Pool of Sprinkles

A new museum dedicated to all things ice cream is popping up in the Meatpacking District in August — featuring art installations, history, ice cream samples, and an ice cream-themed playground of interactive exhibits like a life size pool of sprinkles. The Museum of Ice Cream, to pop up at 100 Gansevoort St., wants to be "a lick-able, likable, shareable ice cream-centric experience," co-founder Maryellis Bunn says. "We’re creating this for people to really draw and embrace this idea of delight and indulgence," she says.

Bunn, who used to work at Time Inc., and her co-founder Manish Vora, who works for start-up Lightbox, embarked on the passion project last year in part to fulfill Bunn’s childhood fantasy of swimming through a pool of sprinkles. "Through several iterations and constant searching throughout the world, I couldn’t find anything," she says. "I decided to go ahead and build it myself." The sprinkles in the pool at the museum won’t be real, but they’re made to look and feel exactly like the kind you eat on sundaes. "You’ll be able to fully immerse yourself in a pool of sprinkles," she says.

Museum of Ice Cream

Besides the sprinkle fantasy, the two are obsessed with ice cream and didn’t see any festivals that met their idea. The museum itself will be a maze-like structure filled with work from a roster of artists and designers who have created sculptures, paintings, murals, illustrations, and more around the theme of ice cream.

Tinder — yes, that Tinder — is also sponsoring an interactive exhibit called Tinder Land where visitors can "discover their true flavor match" with a custom app. Couples can also eat ice cream in "the ultimate first date setting" in the land, where "couples will seesaw in an ice cream scooper" and "swing together on an ice cream sandwich," according to the museum description. More "partners" will be announced later.

And of course, the museum will have actual ice cream to eat, with the treat included in the price of a ticket. Food scientist Irwin Adam will be creating flavors for the museum, and each week, a different New York shop will create a custom ice cream flavors and shakes for visitors of the museum, including Black Tap and Oddfellows.

Bunn and Vora hope that the museum will be a place where people can interact with each other and revel in the "jovial sense of ice cream," Bunn says. Typical New York ice cream shops do engender a sense of community, but sometimes, they’re just too small to keep the good feelings going. "Everyone has their own ice cream story," Bunn says. "That’s something we want to be able to celebrate and embrace." Tickets cost $18 for one person and $30 for couples. The museum will be running from July 29 to August 31, though they may go to other cities or find permanent space in the future.

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