The nose rarely figures in the experience of a museum visitor. That is about to change at one New York City museum.

The Center of Olfactory Art, dedicated to scent as an art form, is opening Thursday at the Museum of Arts and Design.

Museum director Holly Hotchner tells The Associated Press it fits the institution’s purpose as a sensory museum where patrons can touch — and now smell — many of the objects.

Chandler Burr, the former fragrance critic of The New York Times, has been hired as the department’s curator. He says the center will demonstrate that scent creation is the equal of paintings, sculpture and other artistic media.

Burr will present the first exhibition, “The Art of Scent, 1889-2011” next November.