New York pizza museum offers food fans a slice of culture

Pizza lovers are being tempted with a taste of fine art at a new pop-up exhibition that has opened in New York City.

The Museum of Pizza is dedicated to all things cheese and sauce, but there is more to it than many deep pan fans may expect.

“It’s often that the simplest ideas are the best. And we wanted to use pizza’s ubiquitous appeal to get people through the door and looking at art and hearing about history in a different format,” said Alexandra Serio, chief content officer at Nameless Network, the group that came up with the Museum of Pizza idea.

A textile sculpture from artist Hein Koh called Mystic Pizza, part of a group art exhibition celebrating pizza at The Museum of Pizza in New York — A textile sculpture by artist Hein Koh called Mystic Pizza (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

“And what we got back is – it ranges the gambit, let’s just say that. That’s an understatement.”

A pizza video game creation from Jeremey Couillard — A pizza video game creation by Jeremey Couillard (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

And the pop-up museum, also known as MoPi, has already drawn a lot of interest – more than 6,000 people came through the doors when they opened this month.

Another instantly recognisable attribute of the space is the bright colours that are woven throughout the exhibits – perfect for taking pictures for sharing on social media.

The Pizza Guitar, from musician Andrew WK, part of a group art exhibition celebrating pizza at The Museum of Pizza in New York — The Pizza Guitar by musician Andrew WK (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

“Then I was kinda hoping they had something artsy in it because I love taking pictures. So this is a mashup of everything – so you get a little bit of education and then some fun, which I love.”

Ms Serio said selfie-friendly exhibits are becoming a priority for museums as they try to get younger people to walk through their doors.

“It’s a kind of paradigm shift with museums,” she said.

A pizza box playroom created with neon lights and colourful fluorescent tape called Gazoo, part of a group art exhibition celebrating pizza at The Museum of Pizza in New York — A pizza box playroom created with neon lights and colourful fluorescent tape called Gazoo (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

Lydia Melendez, a self-described “pizza aficionado”, bought her tickets in April.

For her, this experience was worth the wait.

A three-dimensional sculpture from artist Shawna X called Say Cheese, part of a group art exhibition celebrating pizza at The Museum of Pizza in New York — A three-dimensional sculpture by artist Shawna X called Say Cheese (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

While pizza may be the hook that draws those interested to the museum, the focus of MoPi is to expose visitors to the fine art world – even if the education is fed one slice at a time.

“The Museum of Pizza’s target demographic isn’t necessarily the same type of people that are making quarterly trips to the MoMA or the Frick collection or the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art),” said Ms Serio.

“We’re really putting fine art in a place that’s easily accessible for a wide range of people.”

The pop-up museum, which costs 35 dollars (£26.70) for adults, closes on November 18.