George Lucas unveils futuristic LA museum

Located in Exposition Park, the museum is dedicated to the history of visual storytelling, encompassing art forms from prehistoric cave paintings and classical works to illustration, comics, photography and cinema.

The futuristic building was designed by Chinese architect Ma Yansong of MAD Architects in collaboration with Stantec. The five-storey structure covers approximately 27,900 square meters and houses more than 9,000 square meters of exhibition space across over 30 galleries.

The inaugural exhibitions will feature more than 1,300 works from the museum’s collection. Among the artists represented are Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Norman Rockwell, Robert Capa, Charles Schulz, Takashi Murakami and Banksy.

A separate cinema exhibition titled Star Wars in Motion will showcase concept art, costumes and props associated with vehicles featured in the first six films of George Lucas’ Star Wars saga. The exhibits include Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder from A New Hope and General Grievous’ Wheel Bike from Revenge of the Sith.

“The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was created to honor humanity’s stories and the artists who illustrate them,” George Lucas said.

The museum also includes two cinemas, ten studios and classrooms, a free research library, a café and the Skywalker Grill restaurant. Its library collection features more than 30,000 comic books, selected materials from the former Lucasfilm Research Library and nearly 2,900 volumes from the personal library of American mythologist Joseph Campbell, whose work influenced the creation of Star Wars.

The museum’s opening celebrations will begin on September 19, with Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Greta Gerwig, Guillermo del Toro and Pharrell Williams among the event’s co-chairs.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported on the opening of the first jellyfish museum in the United States.