Filmmaker George Lucas is a master storyteller, and the expansive Lucas Museum of Narrative Art explores how great stories can be told—not just through film, but also through fine art, photography, outsider art, children’s literature, and comics. The new museum in Los Angeles—cofounded by the man behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and his wife, Mellody Hobson—offers visitors an immersive dive into a range of visual art forms, complemented by a garden, theaters, and restaurants.
When Does the Lucas Museum Open?
The museum is scheduled to debut on Sept. 22, 2026. Using the museum’s online reservation system, you can reserve timed-entry visits between Sept. 22 through February 2027.
Where Is the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art?
The five-story museum sits on an 11-acre campus within Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, which is also home to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California African American Museum, and the California Science Center. The University of Southern California (USC) is just across the street. All are easily accessible by the city’s Metro.
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The museum itself—which houses galleries, two theaters, a retail store, a library, and two dining options—looks like a curvy white spaceship hovering just above the grounds, topped with a green rooftop of native plants and trees. The building was designed by Chinese architect Ma Yansong, acclaimed for his futuristic works, while the green spaces were created by Mia Lehrer, known for the landscapes around SoFi Stadium. The sustainable landscape features solar panels, rainwater collection, and a waterfall-like fountain that acts as a cooling system.
The interiors are equally stunning thanks to six-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Patriot, The Right Stuff) who implemented specialized architectural lighting designed specifically for the Lucas Museum.
Architectural Digest has called the building a “tour de force of biomorphic engineering” with “cutting-edge structural acrobatics that nurture the illusion of buoyancy.” Ma himself has said the “building acts like a canopy or shade tree that creates a place for people to gather and explore.”
Insider Tip: After the museum officially opens, the surrounding outdoor campus will be accessible to all, no ticket required. The park will welcome guests from 8 a.m. until sunset.
How the Museum Started
The museum’s location in Exposition Park is more significant than just its general proximity to Hollywood. Lucas started collecting art—beginning with such inauspicious items as comic books—when he was studying film at the nearby University of Southern California.
Over the decades his collection expanded to include ancient art, Renaissance paintings, modern art, and photography, as well as some seemingly random pieces, like Robert Colescott's George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware: Page from an American History Textbook, a satirical reworking of the iconic 1851 painting. Rather than selling off pieces, Lucas held onto everything.
The concept of the museum developed when he and his wife Hobson decided to create a space where they could share the collection with the community.
What to See at the Lucas Museum
The 35 exhibition spaces cover different themes: Comics, Children’s Stories, Fantasy, History, and Community. See how illustrators and comic artists such as Norman Rockwell and Winsor McCay have reflected our culture in their own ways, alongside modern and contemporary artists such as Frida Kahlo, Jacob Lawrence, and Diego Rivera.
The museum’s permanent collection also features the Lucas Archives, a collection of film props, costumes, and artifacts from 40 years of Lucasfilm productions. You’ll see pieces from the first six Star Wars films as well as the first four Indiana Jones adventures and other movies such as Willow and Howard the Duck.
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Take a seat in either of the two theaters on the ground floor to see short films, animated shorts, and documentaries. The screenings, which range from a few minutes to 90 minutes, are included with your admission, and you can come and go from the theater as you like.
Some films are about artists exhibited in the museum—Norman Rockwell, Charles Schulz, and Maurice Sendak are among those who get the biopic treatment—while others were commissioned for the museum, such as Seeing Is Believing: The Story of Narrative Art. The regular lineup will even include some of Lucas’s earliest short films made while he was a student at USC.
Head to the third floor to explore the library, which looks out over the museum gardens. Guests can browse floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with science fiction and fantasy books as well as children’s books, comics, and magazines (you can sit at tables to read but can’t check out anything).
Courtesy of Rockwell Group / Render by Isabella Crispin
Restaurants and Shopping at the Lucas Museum
Recharge during your visit at one of the two dining options within the museum. Sit down for a full meal at the rooftop Skywalker Grill, the main restaurant, which has a warm cherrywood interior, modern aesthetics, and sweeping views of the gardens and L.A.
The lunch and dinner menus offer elevated comfort food, like lobster corn dogs, chicken and mushroom crepes, and Wagyu burgers, and ragu Bolognese with beef sourced from Skywalker Ranch, Lucas’s sprawling filmmaking campus and retreat in Marin County. Brunch is served on the weekends, and reservations can be made on Resy. Diners don’t need to visit the museum to dine here, and restaurant hours extend beyond regular museum hours.
For something more casual, pick up coffee, drinks, and snacks at the café on the first floor. Stop by the gift shop on your way out to shop merchandise inspired by the art you’ve seen in the museum.
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Hours, Parking, Mass Transit, and Accessibility at the Lucas Museum
The museum is open daily except for Tuesdays, and is open year-round except Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. Hours at the museum and gift shop are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays; 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Fridays; 9 a.m.–9 p.m. Saturdays; and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sundays.
There are two paid parking lots at the museum, and four more lots within Exposition Park. The museum is also accessible by L.A.’s mass transit via the Expo/Vermont train station and the Vermont/39th bus stop.
In terms of accessibility, the museum not only offers wheelchairs, assisted listening devices, and quiet spaces for visitors, but it also offers free admission for caregivers of disabled visitors.
How to Get Tickets to the Lucas Museum
All visitors to the main galleries and theaters must have a timed entry reservation, even if their tickets are free. As of August 2026, reservations are available for admission from Sept. 22, 2026, through Feb. 2027.
General admission is $25 for most adults and $21 for seniors; free admission applies to children 17 and under, active-duty military, museum members, and California EBT cardholders.
To get reservations, create an account on the museum website, book your timed entry slot, then complete the ticket purchase. Check the website for other guidelines such as restrictions on any bags you bring into the museum.
What Areas of the Lucas Museum Don’t Require Tickets?
Reservations and tickets are not required to visit the museum gardens, library, shop, café, and restaurant.
More Things to Do Near the Lucas Museum
For movie fans creating a pop-culture itinerary, the Lucas Museum is about 8 miles from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 10 miles from Universal Studios Hollywood, and 33 miles from Disneyland Resort, home of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and the beloved Indiana Jones ride.
You can also easily fill a full day exploring Exposition Park. In November, the California Science Center will debut the Space Shuttle Endeavour at its new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. And the Natural History Museum houses the largest green-colored dinosaur fossil, a 75-foot-long Diplodocus.
The park is also home to a 7-acre rose garden, playing fields, and two stadiums—Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (USC’s home field) and BMO Stadium, the pitch for Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC.
