After nearly two decades of plans, setbacks and shifting locations, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is finally nearing its long-awaited opening. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the institution will welcome the public on September 22nd, 2026, in Los Angeles’s Exposition Park, creating a new destination devoted to the enduring power of images and visual storytelling.
A museum built around the art of telling stories
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was conceived as a place where the boundaries between fine art and popular culture can dissolve. Its collection traces the history of storytelling through images, spanning ancient visual traditions, illustration, comics, manga and cinema.
Inside the 300,000-square-foot building, more than 35 themed galleries explore subjects ranging from adventure and motherhood to children’s illustration and popular culture. Works by artists including Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth appear alongside narrative forms that have traditionally received less attention in museums.
The result is a broad vision of art history in which paintings, illustrations, comics and cinema belong to one enduring tradition: humanity’s desire to understand the world through images.
From Norman Rockwell to cinema
The collection reflects George Lucas’s longstanding interest in the relationship between image, imagination and storytelling. Dedicated galleries focus on individual artists, while thematic displays cross genres and generations.
High and popular culture sit side by side, creating what Lucas and Hobson describe as a “people’s art” destination, where familiar cultural references meet canonical works.
A landmark museum with a striking design by Ma Yansong
The architecture gives the institution an equally distinctive identity. Designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, the museum rises above Exposition Park as a vast, curving structure inspired by clouds drifting across the Los Angeles sky. Its sweeping silhouette has also drawn comparisons to a spaceship—an apt association for a museum founded by the creator of Star Wars.
The $1-billion building houses galleries alongside a research library, two theatres and a restaurant. Its monumental form is softened by sculpture-filled gardens designed by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA. An approximately 11-acre public park, amphitheatre and cooling fountain extend the museum beyond its galleries, reinforcing its role as both an art institution and civic destination.
The architecture makes entering the museum part of the experience, with sweeping forms, generous public spaces and gardens connecting art, architecture and landscape. At the top of the building, Skywalker Grill adds another dimension, turning the museum into a destination where visitors can linger beyond the galleries.
What to expect at the inaugural program
The opening programme will introduce the museum’s expansive approach to narrative art through its permanent collection, themed galleries and cinematic offerings. The two theatres, research library, public park and gardens will also open, extending the programme into film, education, scholarship and public space.
Continuous film screenings will add a moving-image dimension, while the research library will offer a dedicated resource for exploring visual storytelling. The surrounding park and amphitheatre will further establish the museum as a venue for gatherings and cultural events.
After 17 years in the making, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art marks the arrival of a distinctive cultural institution—one that places painting, illustration, comics, cinema and popular imagery within the same expansive history of how humans use pictures to imagine, remember and communicate.
Courtesy of LUCAS MUSEUM OF NARRATIVE ART
Photography by HUFTON+CROW
