Museum of Ice Cream

Peppy, pink, and polished - the Museum of Ice Cream is another candy-colored fun-land in the recent surge of pop-up museums. Its beauty is playful and pristine, serving as the perfect backdrop for some poppy new photos to enliven your Instagram feed. Visitors are showered with sugary sweets and treats - from cherry-flavored cotton candy to strawberry mochi balls, packets of pop-rocks and scoops of Bi-Rite ice cream. Visually, it's a gorgeous experience.

The MOIC is a bigger endeavor than the similarly-structured SF pop-up "Color Factory," with higher production value, and larger, sleeker set design. The art direction is superb - from pools of rainbow sprinkles to swingsets beneath pink bananas - it's a delightful and charming collection.

My biggest critique is that for an exhibit that visually appears to invite exploration and play, it at times feels a bit lacking in interactivity. I saw many children being told not to touch the life-size gummi bears or scratch the cherry-scented walls (like Color Factory's scratch-and-sniff walls), which was a bit disappointing.

Ultimately though, it's a beautiful, cheery, way to spend an hour or two. Although MOIC founders are hesitant to admit it, social media is a huge driving force behind the museum's popularity - and we should all embrace that for what it is. MOIC offers a a well-designed series of whimsical backdrops to dress up and create some gorgeous photos, all with a scoop of ice cream in hand. Don't forget to wear pink. <3  

The museum was previously in NYC and LA and is currently enjoying its SF run, which has been extended through February 2018; more tickets will be released soon for $38.