At the 2025 Comic-Con in San Diego, George Lucas described his upcoming museum as a “temple to the people’s art.” And now that we’ve actually visited the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which opens to the public on September 22, we can say that was a very apt description. This museum is a shrine to the kind of popular artistic expression that other museums stick their noses up to. But Lucas’ dream project of the past decade has had many bumps and bruises on its way to completion. It was meant to open in San Francisco, then Chicago, before finally settling in Los Angeles. And then, the pandemic halted construction for years. But it’s finally ready, and we can say with certainty that it is an astonishing achievement. And if you can make it to Los Angeles, a trip to the Lucas Museum is a must.
The Lucas Museum sits across 300,000 square feet and 11 acres of park space. It’s big, and aside from the galleries, there are also two movie theaters inside, and a restaurant called the Skywalker Grill (which was not yet open to guests). Architect Ma Yansong created a building that is a work of art itself. And if guests want a closer look at the building’s intricacies? Don’t worry, there’s a scale model inside, which is a nice touch. The museum even has a research library, which truly represents George Lucas’ aesthetic. It’s an antiquated Craftsman-style library housed inside a sleek futuristic space. It’s like both sides of the man’s personality manifested in one room. He’s an artist obsessed with the old, but always looking toward the new.
So what does the Lucas Museum actually contain within its five levels of space-age walls? “Narrative Art” can mean many things. At least in George Lucas’ view, narrative art is any artistic representation that tells a story. That can mean book and magazine covers, comic book art, and advertising. Of course, film and television, photography, and murals count too, along with just some good old-fashioned paintings. Street artist Banksy was a last-minute addition who made it in. It’s a rather wide net, but you probably won’t see any abstract sculptures here. (But hey, don’t quote us on that.)
The first floor is maybe the least impressive, if only because it features a lot of video screens and reproductions. This is “The History of Narrative Art: Heroes, Myths, and the Sacred.” While it’s neat to see projections of classical European, Asian, and African art, most of this part of the museum is a history lesson you can walk through. Although for people who may never make it to the Vatican, seeing large-scale reproductions of the Sistine Chapel is pretty cool. Luckily, things get more interesting (and not just virtual) when you go up to the main floor.
The fourth level of five holds the bulk of the Lucas Museum collection, and it’s pretty jaw-dropping. There are portions dedicated to some of the most iconic artists of the past century, including Maxfield Parrish, Andrew Wyeth, and Thomas Hart Benton. Original comic book art hangs across many walls. For this lifelong comic book fan, seeing original pencil-and-ink art of Jack Kirby’s Captain America or Neal Adams’ Superman felt like going to church.
More than that, by giving comic book and manga art so much real estate, it validates an important art form. One usually dismissed by the mainstream. It means something to see an Astro Boy painting in the manga gallery in the same building as Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait. Yes, her work is on display here too. And yes, the main floor is also where the Star Wars collection is housed. We know a lot of folks are just here for the Star Wars of it all.
A lot of people are already mistakenly referring to the museum as “the Star Wars museum,” which is wildly reductive. Yes, there’s a metric ton of Star Wars artifacts that make the museum a destination for all fans of the Force. If you’re a Star Wars fan, these are indeed holy relics from the Lucasfilm archives. It’s hard not to get emotional in front of screen-used costumes and props, going back fifty years to A New Hope. From the droids R2 and 3PO, to Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher’s costumes, to the Tatooine landspeeder. There’s a lot from the first six episodes of Star Wars, and yet it all only makes up 7% of the museum.
The Star Wars collection is located in the Cinema gallery. And it seems for now, the film collection almost entirely consists of property from Lucasfilm cinema. There’s a random Batman outfit from The Dark Knight, and the Cowardly Lion’s costume from The Wizard of Oz. Even one of the aliens from Close Encounters. But at least for now, “Cinema” mainly means “Star Wars.” And honestly, that’s okay. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is just a few miles away. We’ll let George Lucas use the label “cinema” for mostly showcasing his own stuff. It is what paid for this place to exist in the first place, after all.
Having said all that, the Star Wars of it all does permeate beyond the bounds of the Cinema gallery. A Naboo N-1 starfighter floats above the lobby. Outside in the gardens, large statues of Princess Leia killing Jabba the Hutt and Padmé Amidala in battle adorn the grounds. There’s a Yoda and Grogu fountain. It may be reductive to call this a “Star Wars Museum,” but Lucas’ space opera keeps poking out from many corners. If anything, it’s a reminder to visitors that this is the house that Lucas’s cinematic empire built, and don’t you ever forget it.
However, just as impressive and sizable as any Star Wars in this museum is the massive collection of Norman Rockwell paintings. Perhaps no American artist is as well represented here as Rockwell. And it’s fitting, as his artwork encapsulates how middle-class Americans mythologized everyday life in the 20th century. And it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it on screen, standing before “The Problem We All Live With,” Rockwell’s seminal piece depicting Ruby Bridges, simply hits different. We’re going to go out on a limb and say the Lucas has the biggest collection of Rockwell art outside the Rockwell Museum itself.
During his lifetime, Rockwell was incredibly popular, maybe the most popular American artist of his era. And yet, he was almost completely critically dismissed in his heyday. Can you see why George Lucas feels a strong kinship with him? The Lucas Museum has the largest section for a single artist dedicated to Norman Rockwell. And when you finish looking through this collection, you’ll understand why Lana Del Rey named one of her albums Norman F***ing Rockwell. Because he was THE guy. No one beautifully depicted the myth of the American century (mixed in with some truth) better than he did. As much as for any Jedi, the Rockwell collection is enough reason to go to the Lucas Museum.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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