George Lucas's $1 Billion Museum of Narrative Art Opens in Los Angeles on 22 September
After eight years of construction and two missed deadlines, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is set to open to the public on 22 September 2026 in Exposition Park, Los Angeles. The museum cost US$1 billion to build and will fill 100,000 square feet of gallery space across 35 galleries inside a 300,000-square-foot building designed by Ma Yansong of Mad Architects, with surrounding grounds and paths by landscape architect Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA. The Art Newspaper
The museum was founded by Star Wars director George Lucas, now 82, and his wife Mellody Hobson, a former Starbucks chair and current chief executive of Ariel Investments. Lucas began collecting comics while in college; that habit grew into a 40,000-piece private collection that forms the basis of the institution. The inaugural exhibitions will feature more than 1,200 objects from that collection, with a focus on illustration. Visitors will see 20th-century comic strips by artists such as Robert Crumb displayed alongside paintings by Frida Kahlo, Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish.
The founders classify their holdings under a category they call "narrative art," which they define as art that translates words into images. It is a definition broad enough to take in comic books, editorial illustration, cinema and fine painting under one roof. Ryan Linkof, who joined the museum as its first curator in 2018 and is now senior curator and head of film programmes, has shaped the opening displays. Tracey Bates serves as the museum's chief executive.
The building's main entrance is called Lucas Plaza, and the museum's own website notes that the structure rises from what was once an asphalt lot in Exposition Park. The site neighbours the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Ground was broken in 2018; the original target opening was 2021, pushed back twice before landing on the current date. The Art Newspaper
Despite the founder's fame, the museum is not a Star Wars museum. A handful of film pieces will be on display, including General Grievous's wheel bike from Revenge of the Sith, but the collection's centre of gravity is illustration and painting rather than cinema props. Lucas made his first-ever Comic-Con appearance in July 2025 to promote the project, according to Reuters. Reuters
The museum announced its 22 September 2026 opening date in a press release on 12 November 2025. In the days before the opening, the institution has received mixed reviews in the press, as reported by Artforum on 5 September. Artforum
For a museum that began as one man's comic-book habit, the scale is considerable. Whether "narrative art" as a curatorial category proves durable will be for visitors and critics to judge. The doors open in two weeks.
