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ENTERTAINMENT LA - After years of anticipation, construction, and speculation, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is preparing to open its doors on September 22, 2026, adding one of the most ambitious cultural institutions ever built in Los Angeles to the city's already impressive museum landscape.
Located in Exposition Park, alongside the California Science Center, the Natural History Museum and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the museum represents the vision of filmmaker George Lucas and business leader Mellody Hobson. Rather than focusing solely on film memorabilia or the Star Wars universe, the museum celebrates the broader tradition of narrative art—works that tell stories through images, regardless of medium.
That distinction is important.
While visitors will certainly find original Star Wars models, costumes, concept art and artifacts from Lucas' filmmaking career, they will also encounter paintings, illustrations, comic art, photography, murals and other works that span centuries and cultures. The museum's collection includes artists such as Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo, Charles White, Jack Kirby, and many others whose work demonstrates the universal power of storytelling through images.
George Lucas has often described the institution as a museum dedicated to "the people's art"—art that millions have embraced through books, magazines, comics, cinema and popular culture rather than through traditional fine-art galleries. It is an acknowledgment that visual storytelling deserves a place alongside more conventional artistic traditions.
Architecturally, the building is already becoming a Los Angeles landmark.
Designed by renowned architect Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, the sweeping futuristic structure seems to float above its landscaped surroundings. The campus also includes extensive public green space created by landscape architect Mia Lehrer, helping connect the museum with the surrounding neighborhoods and parkland.
Beyond its galleries, the museum will feature theaters, educational spaces, a research library, restaurants, retail shops and community gathering areas. Its goal is not simply to display artwork, but to encourage visitors to explore how stories shape culture, identity and shared experience.
For Los Angeles, the opening carries significance beyond architecture or tourism.
The city has long been recognized as the entertainment capital of the world. Motion pictures, television, animation, comic books, gaming and digital storytelling all intersect here. The Lucas Museum provides a permanent home that celebrates those creative traditions while placing them within a broader artistic and historical context.
It also reinforces Exposition Park as one of Southern California's premier cultural destinations, complementing neighboring institutions and further strengthening South Los Angeles as a center for education, arts and public life.
Visitors planning to attend after opening should know that general admission tickets go on sale July 21, with adult admission priced at $25, senior admission at $21, and free admission for children 17 and under. The museum is also offering free admission for active-duty military, EBT cardholders and residents of the surrounding 90037 ZIP code through a neighborhood program.
Los Angeles is no stranger to iconic museums. The Getty, LACMA, The Broad and the Academy Museum have each helped define the city's cultural identity. The Lucas Museum now joins that distinguished list—not as a shrine to one filmmaker, but as a celebration of humanity's oldest tradition: telling stories through pictures.
In a city built on imagination, that seems like a fitting next chapter.
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