LOS ANGELES, California, August 7, 2026 — After sixteen years of false starts, four missed target dates, and roughly $1 billion in construction costs, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art finally has an opening date its founders insist will stick. Co-founded by filmmaker George Lucas and Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson, the museum will officially open its doors to the public on September 22.
Dimensions and all
The 300,000-square-foot structure in Los Angeles’s Exposition Park designed by architect Ma Yansong of Beijing-based MAD Architects, with surrounding landscape architecture by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA. Its sweeping, elevated design features rooftop gardens and solar panels—a biomorphic shape that has drawn comparisons to a landed spaceship since renderings first surfaced.
Inside, 35 galleries spanning 100,000 square feet will exhibit more than 40,000 works from the permanent collection. Rather than arranging art by strict chronological order or medium, organizers are structuring galleries around universal human themes, including love, family, community, play, work, sports, childhood, and adventure.
Lucas’ Words
“Stories are mythology, and when illustrated, they help humans understand the mysteries of life,” Lucas shared in a statement accompanying the date announcement.
The holdings encompass classic illustrators like Norman Rockwell, Beatrix Potter, Maxfield Parrish, and Judy Baca; legendary comic creators including Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta, Alison Bechdel, and R. Crumb; and pioneering photographers like Gordon Parks, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Dorothea Lange. Beyond housing the dedicated Lucas Archives—which features original film props, concept art, models, and costumes—the complex includes two theaters, a library, classrooms, dining options, and a retail shop.
It has been a long and difficult road getting to this point. Lucas first mentioned a storytelling art museum in 2010, looking to carve out space near his film studio headquarters in San Francisco. That vision, and a follow-up along Chicago’s lakefront, were both jettisoned by community opposition. The project eventually went to Los Angeles in 2017, while ground broke on it in 2018 with an opening goal of 2021. It was first scheduled for 2021, but over time that date slipped to 2022, 2023 and then as far out as 2025 before leadership indicated a launch in the vicinity of 2026.
“This is a museum of the people’s art—the images are illustrations of beliefs we live with every day,” Hobson said. “For that reason, this art belongs to everyone.”
Finances of the Project
Financially, the project is almost entirely bankrolled by Lucas himself, who funded construction, art acquisitions, and a substantial endowment reported at over $400 million. That level of personal capital makes the venue a anchor for Exposition Park—joining neighbor institutions like the California Science Center, the California African American Museum, and the Natural History Museum as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Tickets went on sale recently for reservation slots running through February 2027, with general admission priced at $25 per adult and $21 senior pricing; children up to age 17 free. Alternatively, the museum is making an LM37 community pass available free of charge to local neighbourhood residents.
Finally
For Lucas, who turns 82 this year, the opening caps a project that has defined much of his post-filmmaking career. He has long argued that illustrated storytelling deserves equal status alongside fine art painting and sculpture—a conviction that will finally face the public’s verdict when the doors open this fall.
Featured Photo by Markus Spiskke, Unsplash
