Lucas Museum opened its doors in Los Angeles on September 22, 2026, establishing a permanent home dedicated to popular illustration, cinematic design, and the evolving craft of visual storytelling [3]. George Lucas and Mellody Hobson founded the project. Their $1 billion institution gathers rare illustrations, movie props, and comic art through decades of collecting, providing public access to assets previously kept in private archives [2]. For patrons who can’t travel to Southern California, publisher Taschen created an 832-page companion catalog that documents the broad scope of these assembled narrative collections [1].
How Big Is the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art?
Ma Yansong of MAD Architects planned the 300,000-square-foot facility, which devotes over 100,000 square feet specifically to exhibition galleries on an eleven-acre site in Los Angeles. The multi-level structure resembles a curved spaceship situated near the University of Southern California, with surrounding parklands and garden terraces created by landscape architect Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA [3].
Inside the complex, visitors discover two movie theaters, a second-floor library, dining spaces, and community areas supporting 18 thematic exhibitions spread through 33 galleries [2], [3]. One ground-floor theater honors Serbian film editor Slavko Vorkapich, whose dynamic montage theories inspired Lucas when he produced his first one-minute experimental student short at USC in 1965 [2]. Over 1,200 installed artworks fill the halls. Organizers bring these disparate artistic traditions together to illustrate shared human experiences, fulfilling Hobson’s hope that visitors see their own humanity reflected back from the gallery walls [3].
The location carries deep personal significance for Lucas. He studied film on the adjacent university campus (USC) during the late 1960s [1]. “I set the goal of getting through film school,” Lucas told an interviewer in 1999 [2]. “I didn’t know where I was going to go after that.” Today, the completed campus serves as a permanent home for narrative arts in Exposition Park [3].
Vehicles on Display
Lucas chose to focus the dedicated Star Wars gallery on a single physical subject: vehicles and transportation. While his personal archives could easily fill an entire building with cinema memorabilia, he restricted this initial installation to hover cars, walkers, and starships framed by concept paintings from Ralph McQuarrie and Doug Chiang. These framed works give equal weight to both the original trilogy and the prequels, depicting imaginative transport that includes a flying Aiwha over ocean skies, a sandcrawler unloading trade goods at a Jawa swap meet, and an Imperial TIE fighter [2].
Roughly 20 intricate models sit behind glass cases. Guests can inspect the four-legged AT-AT walker from The Empire Strikes Back, posed face-planted in artificial snow. Nearby floats the miniature Millennium Falcon, showcased in a stark white cabinet where fine dirt streaks make the plastic hull feel genuine. Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge from Return of the Jedi sits beside an armored combat tank from The Phantom Menace that bears dark battle marks. A mounted alien Kaadu ridden by Jar Jar Binks rounds out the miniature displays [2].
Seven full-size, screen-used vehicles stand directly along the open gallery floor without glass barriers, stretching from young Anakin Skywalker’s striped podracer cockpit strapped to twin shuttlecock engines to a pair of finned airspeeders from Attack of the Clones. The exposed cockpit dials and flight controls reflect practical engineering traditions detailed in our flight instrumentation systems overview, demonstrating how physical switches gave film vehicles believable texture. High above the central lobby, a banana-yellow Naboo starfighter dangles from structural roof beams with R2-D2 seated in the tandem cockpit, offering guests on the second-floor library walkway a clear vantage point [2].
Original Costumes and Props
The sentimental centerpiece of the vehicle exhibition is Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, constructed for the spring 1976 shoot in the Tunisian desert fifty years ago. It is made of plain metal and rubber. Disney later acquired the scarred cruiser when purchasing Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, preserving a modest prop that showcases the low-budget, handmade ingenuity behind the original production [2].
Next to the desert cruiser stands General Grievous’ wheel bike from Revenge of the Sith, marking the first time the machine was constructed as a life-size physical prop after appearing only as digital computer graphics in the third prequel movie [2], [3]. Surrounding the vehicles are life-size wax figures modeling original film costumes. The displays spotlight the inventive labor of costume designers John Mollo and Trisha Biggar, along with art director Joe Johnston. Simple household lightbulbs provide the glowing eyes beneath brown Jawa robes. C-3PO features a humble stomach covering fashioned from standard wire and fabric. Darth Vader’s chest box carries plastic buttons that look like basic tape recorder switches, while Boba Fett sports braided Wookiee trophies over his battle armor [2].
Most living cast members from the productions toured the completed exhibition halls to inspect their sculpted counterparts, with museum guides noting that nearly every original actor stopped by to approve their wax figure. Ewan McGregor was the lone exception. Tour staff joked about whether the actor would have questioned Obi-Wan Kenobi’s patchy blond beard, but the figure’s scruffy grooming faithfully replicates the styling seen in the third prequel movie [2].
Two-Volume Taschen Catalog
To give audiences outside Los Angeles a chance to explore the collection, publisher Taschen joined with George Lucas to produce an official companion catalog for the museum. The two-volume publication spans 832 pages. Weighing nearly 14 pounds inside a thick protective slipcase, the deluxe $200 set provides full-color photography and archival commentary covering hundreds of artworks gathered by Lucas and Hobson. Space.com writer Jeff Spry noted the high printing quality of the color illustrations after examining the books [1].
The catalog organizes the museum’s holdings into thematic sections (such as children’s tales and the American West). Readers encounter reproductions of artwork by Maxfield Parrish, Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta, Beatrix Potter, and Jack Kirby [1], [3]. Director Guillermo del Toro supplied an appreciative foreword for the edition, while Lucas contributed an introductory essay titled The Art of Story. In that preface, Lucas reflects on his love for myth and illustration, recounting how he built a private collection of 40,000 artworks starting in his college years under the guidance of his mentor, Professor Joseph Campbell [1].
Science fiction fans will appreciate a dedicated 100-page section titled Star Wars in Motion. This chapter gathers rare concept sketches, costume designs, and physical model photos from Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic, functioning as a portable design archive. Readers can study how simple concept sketches transformed into elaborate galactic vehicles and finished models [1].
Visual Storytelling in the Galleries
The museum challenges traditional fine art hierarchies by placing cinematic production assets on equal footing with classic narrative illustration, treating storyboards and movie props as legitimate creative expressions [2]. This inclusive curatorial perspective mirrors other recent exhibitions, including the Brooklyn Museum Art of Manga exhibition, which explored sequential comic drafting as an influential artistic form that challenged traditional institutional boundaries.
Throughout the galleries, Lucas threads connections between modern fantasy and historic cultural artifacts. In one hall, a simulated prehistoric cave ceiling painted with wild bison hangs opposite a horned tauntaun creature from The Empire Strikes Back. A Hopi katsina ogre doll features the beak that later reappeared on Jar Jar Binks. Nearby, a stone statue of the Egyptian deity Horus showcases a royal headdress resembling Queen Amidala’s ceremonial wardrobe. A steel suit of Knight Templar armor stands beside a black samurai battle suit, presenting the dual warrior traditions that Ralph McQuarrie fused when sketching Darth Vader. The rooms also house Diego Rivera’s massive mural Man, Controller of the Universe, placed within walking distance of multiple drafts of Norman Rockwell’s Triple Self-Portrait [2].
These visual juxtapositions reflect the founders’ underlying philosophical aims [2]. “Stories are mythology, and when illustrated, they help humans understand the mysteries of life,” George Lucas said when discussing the collection’s purpose [3]. By placing cinematic works beside classical paintings, organizers urge guests to view modern films as modern folklore. The presentation encourages audiences to view assembled movie objects through the eyes of an active visual artist [2].
Lucas Museum Tickets and Grounds
General admission tickets for adults visiting Lucas Museum cost $25. Senior admission for adults aged 65 and older is priced at $21. Entry is free for children and teens under the age of 18. The museum also grants complimentary access to active-duty military personnel, registered founding members, personal care aides, and EBT cardholders. Visitors can book entry slots through online reservation platforms [3].
Guests who arrive without gallery tickets can still wander through the eleven-acre public campus park [3]. The landscaped grounds include curved walking paths, quiet garden terraces, and a cascading waterfall [2], [3]. Outside on the grass stands a bronze statue of Yoda, sculpted to look away from a grinning Grogu figure positioned behind him [2]. The grounds give visitors an open gathering area in Exposition Park [3].
Because the venue contains 300,000 square feet and 18 distinct exhibition programs, organizers recommend setting aside several hours for a full visit. Movie fans planning broader trips can also reach Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge in Anaheim, located roughly two hours south [3]. Whether studying props in person or browsing through Taschen’s 832-page companion volumes, audiences encounter an expansive look at the craft of visual narrative, discovering how illustrators and model makers built enduring cinematic worlds [1].
- ONLINE NEWS Spry, J. (2026, October 20). Can’t make it to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for the ‘Star Wars’ display? This is the companion book set you’re looking for! Space.com. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Nicholson, A. (2026, September 8). Review: What can a ‘Star Wars’ fan expect at the Lucas Museum? Vehicles, costumes and maybe some inspiration. Los Angeles Times. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Freeman, L. (2026, May 7). ‘Star Wars’ exhibit coming to The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art this Sept. in L.A. Attractions Magazine. [Article Link]
APA 7: PerEXP Teamworks. (2026, October 21). Lucas Museum Unveils Star Wars Vehicle Gallery and Companion Art. PerEXP Teamworks. https://perexpteamworks.com/en/lucas-museum-star-wars-gallery/
