Los Angeles’ Exposition Park neighborhood will soon be home to a 300,000 square-foot museum focusing on storytelling in art. Founded by “Star Wars” creator George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, Lucas’ wife and president of Ariel Investments, The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is set to open its doors in 2023.
“The focus of the museum is to open up people’s imaginations and inspire them to dream beyond what is considered possible,” Lucas said in a statement. “Narrative art and storytelling stirs our emotions, shapes our aspirations as a society, and is the glue that binds us together around our common beliefs.”
Located on 11 acres along 39th Street, the $1.5 billion project will feature more than 100,000 works of art in several collection galleries and exhibition spaces. The nonprofit museum will reach five stories and include two state-of-the-art theaters, hands-on and digital classrooms and a free public research library for both educators and students.
The Lucas Museum is being designed by MAD Architects as well as Stantec and is designed to look like a futuristic spaceship landing on the park’s grounds. Renderings for the project show a five-story oval-shaped building with a glass and concrete exterior. The interior is designed to look like a bright and open cave with large windows and skylights bringing natural light into the building. The museum grounds will also include gardens and open park space, which is being designed by Los Angeles-based landscape architecture firm Studio-MLA.
The project is located in Exposition Park, a 160-acre urban park in South Los Angeles.The park is home to several other Los Angeles attractions and museums, including the California African American Museum, the California Science Center, the LA Memorial Coliseum and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, among others. Additionally, Exposition Park is within walking distance of the University of Southern California and just a short drive from both Interstates 10 and 110.
Once complete, The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will be the first of its kind, focusing exclusively on storytelling through images, sculptures, books, magazines and movie memorabilia from almost every era and culture.
The museum’s current collection is worth more than $400 million, and is continuing to grow. Most recently announcing its purchase of Robert Colescott’s 1975 painting, “George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware.” In March, the museum also acquired Judith F. Baca’s 1980s-era mural, “The History of California.”
“Our goal is to create the world’s most inclusive and accessible art museum—a place that brings together people from every walk of life,” said co-founder Mellody Hobson. “We are excited to call Exposition Park home, surrounded by more than 100 elementary and high schools, one of the country’s leading universities, as well as three other world-class museums.”
