Sept. 23 2026
It took eight years and $1.5 billion, but Star Wars creator George Lucas’ Lucas Museum of Narrative Art finally opened its doors to the public this week in Los Angeles. Designed by architect Ma Yansong and spanning 300,000 square feet on a 13-acre campus, within the museum’s futuristic exterior are housed some of the most famous works of historic art and Hollywood craftsmanship ever.
Along with Lucas’ personal collection of Star Wars art and production props, the facility holds work from Frank Frazetta (one of my favorites since childhood), R. Crumb, Jack Kirby (the legendary Marvel comics illustrator), fine artists such as Norman Rockwell, Banksy, Diego Rivera, as well as photographers including Gordon Parks and Robert Capa.
The museum, whose development was led by Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, also contains two fully-equipped movie theaters, a restaurant, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art’s Research Library, which contains the Joseph Campbell Collection (curated from the writer’s personal collection) and the Skywalker Ranch Library.
Earlier this week, the museum held an opening party that drew in nearly every living big-name director you can think of, including Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, Ron Howard, Greta Gerwig, Jon Favreau, Spike Lee, Francis Ford Coppola, Lee Daniels, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright, Denis Villeneuve, and John Landis, to name just a few. And those were just some of the directors in attendance. The list of actors, musicians, producers, and writers who came to pay homage is too long to name here, but included Robert De Niro, David Benioff, Mark Hamill, Frank Miller, Laura Dern, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan, Al Pacino, and many others.
Although there are many incredibly well-executed museums throughout the U.S., New York City is generally considered the hub of the country’s must-see museums. However, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art now presents anyone who is involved in storytelling, whether as a filmmaker, writer, artist, producer, or actor, a concrete, and dare I say, necessary reason to visit Los Angeles (The Getty Center notwithstanding) to experience this grand and heartfelt collection honoring the art of imagination.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art officially opened on Tuesday, admission is $25, and you can find out more here.
Cover: The exterior of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
