The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has announced it will be open to the public on September 22, 2026. The building’s 35 galleries occupy 300,000 square feet, will hold more than 40,000 works in its permanent collection, and will feature two theaters, a retail store, a library, a café, a restaurant, and event spaces. Funded by Star Wars and Indiana Jones creator George Lucas with his wife, Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson, the new 11-acre campus in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park will be designed by Ma Yansong of MAD, with gardens designed by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA.
The Lucas Museum shows how narrative art influences societies, shaping beliefs, communicating values, inspiring imagination, and creating communities. We empower people to engage with artworks through the compelling stories they tell.
“Stories are mythology, and when illustrated, they help humans understand the mysteries of life,” said George Lucas, co-founder of the museum, in a statement.
According to Lucas, the museum was built on the belief that illustrated storytelling is a universal language.
The museum’s collection will feature works by artists such as Norman Rockwell, Kadir Nelson, Jessie Willcox Smith, N. C. Wyeth, Beatrix Potter, Judith F. Baca, Frida Kahlo, and Maxfield Parrish; comic art legends such as Winsor McCay, Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta, Alison Bechdel, Chris Ware, and Robert Crumb; and photographers Gordon Parks, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Dorothea Lange. The museum will show props and costumes from Star Wars, movie posters, and documentaries featuring artists and filmmakers.
“This is a museum of the people’s art—the images are illustrations of beliefs we live with every day. For that reason, this art belongs to everyone,” said Lucas Museum co-founder Mellody Hobson. “Our hope is that as people move through the galleries, they will see themselves, and their humanity, reflected back.”
Check out some of the pieces that will be part of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art collection below:
