The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens its doors to the public on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in Los Angeles. Located in historic Exposition Park, the institution is the first of its kind, dedicated to showcasing the universal tradition of storytelling through images. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the museum traces visual storytelling across cultures and centuries—from prehistoric cave paintings to illustration, comics, and cinema—celebrating how stories connect us, shape belief, and help us see ourselves in one another.
A 300,000-Square-Foot Home for Storytelling
The museum occupies a 300,000-square-foot building designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects with Stantec. The structure features more than 100,000 square feet of gallery space across 30-plus galleries. Its exterior is clad in over 1,200 curved panels of fiberglass-reinforced polymer, chosen for their ability to create smooth, flowing forms. The design breaks from convention with a central arch spanning 185 feet, allowing access to the north and south lobbies while hovering four stories above the public plaza. An elliptical oculus at the center offers a view from the ground to the sky.
The building is intended to feel like an extension of the natural environment rather than a separate structure. It touches the park ground at only a few points to create a dynamic, sheltered gathering space. Ma Yansong described the approach as building an environment or a scene rather than a building alone. Principal areas on the lower floors include two state-of-the-art theaters, a horseshoe-shaped library and learning space with floor-to-ceiling windows, 10 studio and classroom spaces, a shop, a café, and an approximately 10,000-square-foot gallery.
South Los Angeles has long faced a shortage of accessible green space and cultural destinations. The Lucas Museum addresses this gap by integrating its architecture into a new 13-acre campus. The surrounding Park and Gardens, designed by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA, replace a previous asphalt parking lot. The environment includes indigenous and drought-tolerant plantings, more than 300 newly planted trees, a hanging garden, an amphitheatre, a meadow, and a fountain conceived as a dramatic waterfall. The contoured topography of the campus echoes the natural terrain of Los Angeles, guiding visitors through and around the building.
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Storytelling has always been rooted in place, whether in a village square, a city wall, or a community garden. By merging the rigid lines of modern architecture with the fluidity of nature, the Lucas Museum attempts to create a space where the distinction between indoor and outdoor life dissolves. The park does not merely sit beside the building; it participates in the narrative of the visitor’s journey from arrival to departure.
Curated Collections and Public Spaces
The museum’s collection spans a wide range of eras and mediums of visual storytelling, from Artemisia Gentileschi and Norman Rockwell to Frida Kahlo, Robert Colescott, Frank Frazetta, and Robert Crumb, alongside film materials that include the complete Lucas Archives (1971–2012). The inaugural exhibitions unfold through 100,000 square feet of space across more than 30 galleries. The story begins on the first floor with The History of Narrative Art: Heroes • Myths • The Sacred, an introduction exploring how visual storytelling has produced mythologies that inspired devotion, forged communities, and shaped societies.
Many of the reproductions in this gallery were created by the Museum using innovative technology in collaboration with institutions around the world. These include faithful reproductions of the Sistine Chapel ceiling from the Vatican Museums, the Winged Human-Headed Bulls from the Palace of Sargon II at the Louvre, ancient cave paintings from Altamira, and the Aztec Sun Stone from Mexico. High-resolution images and 3-D scans of the original objects have been donated to the collaborating partners, allowing visitors a unique encounter with works they could otherwise see only by traveling the globe.
The museum also honors American artists who were giants of 20th-century illustration with individual galleries. These include Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Frazetta, and Thomas Hart Benton. A gallery on the fifth floor dedicated to large-scale, monumental storytelling in public contexts highlights murals that reflect history, identity, and shared social memory. Highlights include works from the extensive archive of Chicana muralist Judith F. Baca’s famous half-mile-long mural, The History of California (commonly known as The Great Wall of Los Angeles).
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Programmes and Visitor Amenities
Located on the lower floors, the museum houses a free Research Library that serves as a resource for scholars and the general public alike. The library spans a curved, light-filled reading room on the main level and additional floors of research materials. Its general collections provide context for the themes and artists in the galleries, covering art history, illustration, cinema, folklore, and popular culture.
Special collections focus on children’s literature, graphic arts, and underground comics, including a significant archive of more than 30,000 comic books. The holdings also feature the Skywalker Ranch Library, offering rare insights into mythology and global cultures used by George Lucas, along with a donation of 3,000 art books from Steve and Ann Martin and the personal library of mythologist Joseph Campbell.
The museum’s opening will be marked by a series of events. Member preview days are scheduled from September 5 through September 11. A Neighbourhood Preview Day on September 13 welcomes local partners and residents. The official Opening Night celebration on September 19 is co-chaired by figures from art and cinema, including Julie Bell, Tom Cruise, Greta Gerwig, and Steven Spielberg. The museum opens to the general public on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.