Lucas Museum CEO Addresses Staff Departures as Opening Nears
The CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has publicly responded to a wave of staff departures, as the long-awaited institution prepares to open its doors in Los Angeles this month.
Jim Gianopulos, who leads the museum backed by Star Wars creator George Lucas, issued a statement addressing the exits, ARTnews reported on 3 September 2026. The response comes after months of upheaval at the institution, which has faced delays and personnel issues throughout its development, according to Artnet News.
The most prominent departure was Pilar Tompkins Rivas, the museum's chief curator, who left in December 2025. The Los Angeles Times first reported her exit on 4 December, with Fox LA and Artnet News confirming the following day. Tompkins Rivas had held the curatorial leadership role, shaping what visitors would see when the museum opened its collection of narrative art — a broad category spanning painting, illustration, comics and cinema that traces how visual storytelling has evolved.
After her departure, Gianopulos told the Los Angeles Times there were "no immediate plans" to replace Tompkins Rivas as chief curator. George Lucas himself will continue to oversee curatorial content and direction at the museum, the Times reported.
For a museum built around one filmmaker's vision, that arrangement puts the creator directly in charge of what hangs on the walls. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, under construction in Exposition Park in downtown Los Angeles, is scheduled to open in September 2026, according to Artnet News.
The museum's path to opening has not been smooth. Beyond Tompkins Rivas's exit, the institution has been affected by delays and broader personnel issues, Artnet News reported. Gianopulos's 3 September response to the departures, as covered by ARTnews, appears to be the museum leadership's most direct public acknowledgment of the turbulence.
What makes the timing notable is the collision of a staffing shake-up with an opening date that is now weeks away. Museums typically staff up, not down, in the final stretch before launch. The decision not to rush a replacement chief curator suggests Lucas and his leadership team are comfortable steering the curatorial programme themselves — at least for the opening chapter.
