Pop Up Valentine’s Museum Opens in Chelsea; All Hearts Are Welcome Says Founder
Like a theatrical production that lands on Broadway, the Valentine’s Museum completed a four year run out of town before its debut in Chelsea. Founder Nicole Utley hopes the exhibition that runs through Feb. 15 becomes an annual tradition.
| 28 Jan 2026 | 11:17
The creative team behind the pop up Valentine Museum (form left) Maddie Hill, founder Nicole Utley and Sayre Stewart. (
)
The Valentine’s Museum, a pop up in Chelsea, will be open from Friday Jan. 31 until Feb. 15. (
)
The Valentine Museum which opens for a limited run in Manhattan through Feb. 15 features a craft center. The one pictured above is from an earlier craft fair that the founders ran in Utah for the past four years. (
)
Love is in the air at the Valentine’s Pop Up Museum. The photo above is from a similar pop up museum that the founder of the NYC museum ran in Utah for the past four years. (
)
Temperatures are in a deep freeze but things are heating up in Chelsea, thanks to a red-hot pop-up celebrating all the things February 14th has become famous for.
The brain- (and heart-) child of Nicole Utley, a thirty-three year old Utah native, this two week interactive Valentine’s Museum will debut in Chelsea on January 31st with a heart-palpitating opening gala, tickets for which are available at: https://www.nedco.fun/valentines-museum#tickets .
Utley has become a bit of a phenom in this arena, which allowed her to expand her four year stint of Valentine’s Museum events throughout Utah all the way to the Big (shiny red) Apple. She lived here briefly, a few months on the Upper West Side, and harbors aspirations to somehow figure out a a way financially to make the big move here more permanent.
In the meantime, she has migrated the event to the heart (pun intended) of Chelsea, in a vacant building space who’s interior is soon to be gutted as it awaits a full-time tenant. She enlisted local real estate agent Marcus Craddock, who scoured the streets of Manhattan to find her the perfect location for the pop-up. The serendiptous timing was faciltated by the generous lease-holder, who allowed her to temporarily transform the ground-level floor before his construction begins to a haven of all things St. Valentine.
And by “all things,” Utley is pushing the boundaries of typical Valentine’s connotations. She “grew up loving Valentine’s Day,” made “super special” by her mother, Linda, who instigated the idea that the day is about love, not romance. Every year she would bake Nicole a cherry chip cake frosted in pink that to this day she still loves. They would have a tea party for all her friends, with a make—your-own valentine table, and the glittery, spricker-spreck mess of the ordeal was never criticized. Even in grade school, she adored making valentines for all her classmates at school full of glitter, stickers and paste. She wanted to get back to that feeling of childlike joy and inclusivity, where she saw no obligation, but instead opportunity. “Making it fun again” is her goal.
To that end, the museum will feature multiple “stations” where attendees can learn, more traditionally, the history of Valentine’s Day. You’ll be able to find your own “cupid-esque” nickname with a custom name generator. Lots of interactive options follow, like a “Listen to Your Heart” Tunnel paved with a hopscotch course to intended to get your heart rate up, and then a monitor at the terminus so you can see how much work you actually did put on your ticker. A Fun House of Toxic Relationships, complete with a rage room-esque section designated with a sign saying “You’re A Knock-Out.” Here people can write their grievances on a full-size punching bag and wallop them to their heart’s content. And of course, myriad IG-worthy backdrops for heartfelt selfies galore!
Admittedly, Valentine’s Day has gotten a bad rap recently, with so many clapping back about the over-priced commerciality of the holiday and all the expected shlock. Utley embraces that aspect with cheeky elements of camp and snark, but there will also be a classic Valentine making section complete with old-school materials like construction paper, stickers and markers to make a card for whatever sweetheart you deem deserving. If you’re not the artistic type, there’s a gift shop featuring classic and very untraditional memorabilia from which to choose.
Regular museums hours will launch on February 1 for a two week stint, closing up shop the day after Valentine’s Day on Feb. 15. The gala opening party on the 31st (tickets are still being sold!) will kick things off, complete with a live New York based jazz band, treats from nearby (and appropriately hued) Crumbl, and a make-your-own dirty soda bar with fizzy soft drinks and myriad syrups to concoct your own signature drink. The dance troupe Fabulosa has created a special video choreographed just for the event, which will be debuted on video screens. The dress code for the gala is “flirty, funky and formal,” but make sure you’re comfortable to boogie because there may or may not be a secret room for dancing (plus.... hopscotch!).
Who should you come with? Most importantly, yourself! The museum is all-inclusive, celebrating love in every iteration: friendship, familial, romantic, passionate... you name it. If you can love it, you will be embraced here. In fact, that is Utley’s fundamental goal, celebrating love and putting the fun back into Valentine’s Day. Like she says, “All Hearts Welcome.”
245 7th Ave New York, NY 10001 Valentines Museum — The Valentine’s Museum