Lucas Museum Opens Sept. 22 With a Vision Larger Than ‘Star Wars’

A museum built around how images tell stories

LOS ANGELES — The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will open to the public September 22 in Exposition Park, nearly a decade after Los Angeles was selected for the project. Co-founders George Lucas and Mellody Hobson describe it as an institution devoted to storytelling through images rather than a monument to one filmmaker or franchise.

The sculptural building designed by Ma Yansong of MAD contains 35 galleries and about 100,000 square feet of exhibition space. Gardens designed by Mia Lehrer surround the structure, turning what had been asphalt into a large landscaped campus beside other major cultural institutions.

The permanent collection numbers more than 40,000 works, according to the museum. Its reach runs from illustration and comics to cinema, murals and paintings by artists whose images helped shape public memory.

Why ‘Star Wars museum’ is too small a label

Lucas's archives and cinematic work are present, including an inaugural cinema exhibition called “Star Wars in Motion.” But reporting from the museum places those holdings inside a much wider argument: images made for popular audiences can carry artistic, historical and emotional weight alongside works traditionally separated as fine art.

The institution highlights names as different as Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo, Charles White, Jack Kirby, Kadir Nelson and Banksy. Galleries organized around themes such as family, work, play, sports and adventure encourage visitors to compare how creators across eras visualize common experiences.

That curatorial choice will invite debate. Museums help establish cultural value, and placing movie concept art or magazine illustration beside celebrated painting challenges older boundaries about which stories and formats deserve institutional attention.

The opening is also a South Los Angeles story

The museum's location makes access part of its cultural promise. It has announced free admission for residents of the surrounding 90037 ZIP code, while the campus includes a cinema, research library, classrooms, restaurant and public landscape.

An opening announcement cannot prove that neighbors will feel ownership of the institution or that programming will remain accessible. Those questions require attendance data, community partnerships and time. September 22 begins that test rather than completing it.

Limits and what to watch

The museum has announced its opening program and collection, but attendance, critical reception and long-term community impact cannot be measured before the public opening.

The next development to watch is the September 22 opening and the public's first sustained encounter with the galleries, gardens, cinema and research library.