By Drew Benda
Los Angeles, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (The Hollywood Times) 09/20/2026 – The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles’s Exposition Park opens to the public on September 22. It is bound to be a major tourist attraction. The $1 billion-plus, 300,000-square-foot museum is far more than a Star Wars Museum. Its collection spans narrative art masters like Norman Rockwell, Jack Kirby, and Frank Frazetta.
The Lucas is also home to a three-level research library that is free to all visitors. Even if you have never seen a single Star Wars film, this place is worth your time.
A big part of the museum is the library. It has three floors housing three different collections. The first floor is a part of the Lucas Museum’s private collection of books. The second floor comes directly from George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch Research collection. Lucas sourced this material when writing and producing the original Star Wars films. The library holds a diverse, non-circulating collection of between 5,000 and 6,000 books. The library is also home to more than 30,000 comic books and roughly 2,900 volumes from mythologist Joseph Campbell’s personal library. Campbell’s work deeply influenced Star Wars. The library is free for all visitors, and the research database is expected to be up and running by spring.
The Exhibits are the main attraction at the Lucas Museum. If you have not seen Star Wars, you still will not be disappointed. The museum dedicates separate galleries to the giants of 20th-century American illustration’s Golden Age, including Norman Rockwell, Jessie Willcox Smith, N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, and Thomas Hart Benton.
The museum has a great exhibit on the Comic Legends who have been part of the cultural zeitgeist for quite some time. The “Comics and Graphic Storytelling” exhibition brings together major works from American and European comics, including original art by Jack Kirby, Frank Miller, Moebius, Marie Severin, Alison Bechdel, and Jim Lee. Kirby and Miller in the same gallery is worth the ticket price on its own.
There is an exhibit for everyone. Science fiction and fantasy are at the heart of all Lucas’ Star Wars films. That is why there is a lovely exhibit dedicated to the artworks of Frank Frazetta and other renown science-fiction artists. Frank Frazetta is one of Lucas’s own favorite artists and has dedicated space solely to Frazetta. Fantasy and science fiction storytelling is a major theme in most of Lucas’ stories.
One cannot talk about the Lucas Museum without mentioning the main attraction of The Star Wars Section. It is amazing but it’s not everything the museum has to offer. The fourth-floor galleries greet visitors with R2-D2 and C-3PO. Other cool displays include production art from Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace, Princess Leia’s costume from The Empire Strikes Back, and Darth Vader’s suit from Revenge of the Sith. Luke Skywalker’s land speeder and General Grievous’s wheel bike are on view as physical builds for the first time. While walking through, one is fully immersed in the world of Star Wars.
Lucas Museum is home to an eclectic variety of different artworks and collections. The museum has an unmatched collection of Banksy works on the fifth floor. Banksy is an anonymous British graffiti artist known for his anti-authoritarian art often found in public places.
When rounding out your trip at the Lucas Museum, one must stop in the sculpture garden outside. It is home to a beautiful two-ton bronze statue of Jabba the Hut, a main antagonist from one of the Star Wars Films. The building itself was designed by Ma Yansong. The Chinese Architect used his spaceship-shaped design as part of the narrative. More than 40,000 objects in the collection, with over 1,200 works in the inaugural exhibition, spread across 30-plus galleries and roughly 100,000 square feet. Be prepared to spend an entire day there.
Here is some practical information regarding the museum. It opens September 22. Adults $25, free for under 18. South LA residents in ZIP code 90037 can apply for free passes.
