After more than a decade in development, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by filmmaker and producer George Lucas – the creator of the Star Wars saga and founder of Lucasfilm - and his wife Mellody Hobson, opened to the public on September 22, 2026. The first institution of its kind dedicated to the art of storytelling, the museum sits on more than 30 rai within the Exposition Park, Los Angeles and was privately funded to the tune of more than US$1 billion (approximately THB 33 billion), making it one of the United States’ major cultural projects.
The five-storey, 300,000-square-foot ( 27,870-square-metres) museum building houses more than 30 galleries, two theatres, a retail store, a library, a café, a restaurant, and event spaces. Designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects in a futuristic style, as if it has stepped out of Lucas’s sci-fi films, the museum brings together illustration, photography, painting, comics, graphic novels, sculpture, murals and cinema, alongside an extensive archive spanning Lucas’s filmmaking career from his first feature film “THX 1138” to landmark works including the “Star Wars” saga and Indiana Jones adventure series.
“The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was created to honour humanity’s stories and the artists who illustrate them. The artists in this collection didn’t just create images, they connected our modern imaginations with our ancient emotions - with common beliefs creating community. Their work spans genres, media and time. They deserve to be in a museum,” Lucas said.
The museum’s inaugural exhibitions trace the history of narrative art through more than 1,300 works drawn from a collection of 40,000 pieces Lucas has collected over more than five decades. One highlight is Star Wars in Motion, the inaugural exhibition in the Cinema gallery, drawn from the Lucas Archives. It showcases concept designs, props and costumes from the first six Star Wars films, featuring iconic vehicles from Luke’s Landspeeder in “A New Hope” (1977) to General Grievous’s Wheel Bike in “Revenge of the Sith” (2005).
Another highlight is the collection of reproductions of immovable artworks, architecture and archaeological sites, created using advanced imaging and 3D scanning technology in collaboration with museums, cultural institutions and governments around the world. These include the Vatican Museums for the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Louvre for the Winged Human-Headed Bulls from the Palace of Sargon II, and the National Museum and Research Centre of Altamira in Spain for ancient cave paintings.
The inaugural exhibition spans a wide range of narrative art, from Vincent van Gogh, Jacob Lawrence and Beatrix Potter to Charles White, Ernie Barnes and Georges Méliès. It also features George Herriman, Charles Schulz, Jim Lee and Frank Miller in comics; Robert Capa and Gordon Parks in documentary photography; and Diego Rivera, Jr and Judith F. Baca in large-scale murals, alongside contemporary works by Takashi Murakami and Banksy.
Six influential American illustrators of the 20th century are additionally honoured with dedicated individual galleries, featuring works by Norman Rockwell, NC Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Frazetta and Thomas Hart Benton. Two state-of-the-art theatres, the Robert Flaherty Theater and the Slavko Vorkapich Theater, are named after two legendary filmmaking pioneers Robert Flaherty and Slavko Vorkapich.
The museum’s offerings also extend to its Research Library, which offers free public access to extensive research collections, special collections, rare books and archives. Highlights include works from Kitchen Sink Press, influential for its support of underground comics; works by R. Crumb, whose illustrations pushed the boundaries of visual expression; and a collection of more than 30,000 comic books, with particular depth in the Silver Age of Comics (1956–1970), a formative period in the development of American comics and superhero storytelling such as Justice League of America published by DC Comics and Fantastic Four and Spider-Man by Marvel Comics.
The Research Library also houses more than 2,900 volumes from the personal library of renowned writer and mythologist Joseph Campbell. His influential work, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, introduced the concept of the “hero’s journey”, shaping the study of mythology and storytelling and influencing generations of writers, artists and filmmakers including George Lucas in the creation of Star Wars.
Beyond its remarkable collection, the museum’s architecture is equally compelling. Built on a site that was formerly asphalt parking lots in Exposition Park, a major cultural, scientific and sporting district in the heart of Los Angeles, the museum sits alongside institutions including the California African American Museum, California Science Center, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, BMO Stadium and Natural History Museum. Taking inspiration from the large trees of Exposition Park, Ma Yansong of MAD Architects envisioned the building as an extension of this natural canopy.
“My goal was to create a building that invites curiosity and brings visitors on an emotional journey. The building’s biomorphic, dream-like form softens the boundary between indoor and outdoor, between architecture and park – because seeking a connection with nature is an innate human need. The museum also reflects Los Angeles itself: its pioneering spirit, its embrace of many cultures, and the relationship between nature, society and the city,” Yansong said.
The building is lifted above the ground to preserve open public space and strengthen its connection with the surrounding landscape and streetscape. At its centre, 185-foot (56.3 metre) arched steel beams support a floating public plaza that provides shade, shelter and gathering space. The plaza connects the museum’s north and south lobbies, while a central elliptical Oculus, suspended four storeys above, opens a dramatic view from the ground to the sky.
The building’s exterior is clad in more than 1,200 uniquely shaped fibreglass-reinforced polymer (FRP) panels, chosen for their light weight and ability to create smooth, flowing forms. Each panel is precisely fitted to form the museum’s distinctive sculptural façade, using advanced fabrication and construction techniques. The museum is also supported by 281 seismic base isolators, a system more commonly used in hospitals, allowing the building to move up to 42 inches in any direction during an earthquake before returning to its original position. An eight-foot movable “moat” around the ground floor accommodates this movement, helping protect visitors, staff and artworks during seismic events.
The compound also features new Park and Gardens designed by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA, incorporating sculptures and new public green space for South Los Angeles. The landscape includes indigenous, drought-tolerant plantings, more than 300 newly planted trees, a hanging garden, an amphitheatre, a meadow, and a dramatic waterfall-like fountain. Its contoured landscape echoes the natural terrain of Los Angeles, guiding visitors through and around the building while creating spaces for recreation and gathering.
Free and open to the public, the park extends the museum’s galleries into the outdoors, with 10 monumental sculptures installed along accessible walkways. The works include sculptures by Fernando Botero, Antonin Mercié, Mark Newman, and Lawrence Noble.
