Joe Nerds Out About The Lucas Museum Of Narrative Art

Y’all, I’m a sucker for two things: museums and Star Wars. So you can only imagine my excitement now that the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is open to the public.

KTLA reports that the museum allowed its first public visitors on Tuesday in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park area. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art was founded by George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson. Hobson said the museum began with Lucas “aspiring to have a building so unique that 8-year-olds and 80-year-olds would equally want to come inside.”

After selling his company, Lucasfilm, to Disney in 2012, Lucas has spent the last 14 years working to get the museum off the ground. Between the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and Obama’s Presidential Library, I have a newfound respect for how long it takes to launch a large-scale museum. 

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has over 30 galleries across 100,000 square feet. The building itself looks like a futuristic spaceship, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering this is the man who gave us THX 1138 (good movie if you haven’t seen it). Several gardens surround the museum, with statues showcasing iconic moments from Lucas’ films. 

The big showcase for nerds like ya boy is the Lucas Archives, which features illustrations and props from the Lucasfilm archives spanning from the 1970s to 2012. Some of my friends went to the opening, and it looked incredible. Props from all six Star Wars movies Lucas helped produce were on display. I just know I’m going to be feeling like Nicolas Cage in National Treasure once I see the podracing props from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.  

What’s truly insane is that the Lucas Archives only make up about 7% of the museum’s displays, despite spanning decades of material. Beyond Star Wars memorabilia, there’s plenty of art across film, comics, manga, and modern and contemporary art. 

Lucas said the museum’s focus was to showcase the illustrations that bring life to narrative work. “It’s something that I felt very, very strongly about in terms of honoring illustrators,” Lucas told KTLA. “Most of the stories are mist. They’re not real, but the illustrations make them real.”

Impressively, there are two movie screens and even a library in the museum. “What I love about it is that a lot of the books inside are about the artists and the art that are in our collections,” Seth Fowler, senior director of communications for the Lucas Museum, told KTLA. “So you can actually continue your journey of discovery after you visit and discover those artists inside the gallery.”

Beyond the Star Wars of it all, the museum honestly feels like a throwback to when billionaires actually used their money to meaningfully contribute to a community. The fact that tickets are only $25 for adults, and that children, teens, and even EBT holders can access the museum for free, really shows the museum isn’t simply a vanity project, but an institution designed to culturally enrich the community it’s located in. 

I, for one, cannot wait to check out the museum myself.

SEE ALSO:

Lanterns Episode 6 Recap: John Stewart Can’t Outrun the Past

Everything Revealed In Netflix’s Extended Look At ‘GTA VI’