After years of looking for a site to open a public museum to house his personal collection, the iconic George Lucas has decided to choose Los Angeles, California as its permanent location.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art which will be located in Exposition Park near Lucas’ alma mater USC, will feature pieces from the filmmaker’s personal collection including ‘Star Wars’ memorabilia as well as around 10,000 paintings and illustrations including works by Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and R. Crumb. Lucas has stated he will fund the project which includes building costs, the art value and an endowment of at least $400 million and is estimated to cost about $1 billion.
In a press release by the museum’s Board of Directors:
“After extensive due diligence and deliberation, the Board of Directors of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is pleased to announce plans to build the museum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. We have been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive support we received from both San Francisco and Los Angeles during our selection process. Settling on a location proved to be an extremely difficult decision precisely because of the desirability of both sites and cities.
… As a museum uniquely focused on narrative art, we look forward to becoming part of a dynamic museum community, surrounded by more than 100 elementary and high schools, one of the country’s leading universities as well as three other world-class museums.”
As Lucas is well known for his contributions in the sci-fi genre, it is no surprise that the concept art for the museum’s design by Chinese architect Ma Yansong has taken on a more futuristic look:
Choosing Los Angeles as the final destination for the museum has not been an easy road for Lucas. Back in 2010, he had hoped to establish the museum in his hometown of San Francisco but was met with some resistance as the San Francisco Presidio Trust had reservations about building the museum in their historical park. The next location was Chicago where he also encountered resistance.
The decision for Los Angeles has made many happy especially L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti:
“It feels like this incredible gift has come home. I always thought Los Angeles was the natural place to spread the vision of George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, to make art and creativity accessible and inspirational to the next generation. It’s a natural place to have this museum in the creative capital of the world and in the geographic center of the city. It’s a banner day for L.A.”
As for the next step in this wonderful addition, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Board of Directors could not have stated it more eloquently:
“Now we turn our attention to finalizing the details and building what we believe will be one of the most imaginative and inclusive art museums in the world — a global destination that all Angelenos and Californians will be proud to call their own.”
Keep checking back with ScienceFiction.com as we will continue to give you updates about this incredible museum as new is released!
Source: LA Times
