George Lucas Opens the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in LA

The sprawling 300,000-square-foot facility sits within an 11-acre publicly accessible park in Exposition Park, transforming former parking lots into a futuristic campus designed by architect Ma Yansong of MAD, according to the Los Angeles Times. The building features 100,000 square feet of gallery space divided into 35 thematic galleries, alongside public seating, an amphitheater, and “The Rain,” a large fountain that doubles as a building cooling mechanism.

Exhibitions and Narrative Art Focus

The museum’s 35 galleries are organized by themes such as adventure, motherhood, community, children’s illustrations, manga, and comics, according to the Los Angeles Times. The institution also houses a murals gallery and dedicated spaces for specific artists including Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Frank Frazetta, and Maxfield Parrish. The curation reflects an overarching ethos championed by the founders: if an individual has an emotional connection to a piece, it qualifies as art.

“This is a big celebration for us because it took us so long to get here, but it’s something that I felt very very strongly about in terms of honoring illustrators,” Lucas told reporters, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. He added that the museum highlights artists who illustrate stories already written, noting that while those stories are generally myths, “the illustrations make them real.”

Development Hurdles and Design

The journey to opening day involved navigating 17 years of site searches and bureaucratic hurdles, including earlier attempts to establish the museum in Chicago and San Francisco. Lucas described himself as a contrarian driven by challenges, noting that the final phase in Los Angeles involved eight years of construction and dealing with opposing viewpoints.

Architect Ma Yansong acknowledged that the unconventional design has drawn frequent comparisons to a spaceship or a cloud. Beyond the exhibition spaces, the campus includes a research and reading library, a cafe, and a fifth-floor restaurant named Skywalker Grill that offers rooftop views of downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Populist Vision and Public Reception

Ahead of the Sept. 22 grand opening, public interest has been high, with visitors securing tickets over the summer months. Mellody Hobson emphasized the institution’s accessibility during the press preview, telling the Los Angeles Times that the facility functions as “a museum by the people, for the people,” while Lucas characterized it as dedicated to “the people’s art.”