When the long-awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens its doors to the public in Los Angeles on September 22, it will bring with it a trove of never-before-displayed treasures from the cultural phenomenon that is *Star Wars*, its lead curator has confirmed. Speaking exclusively to AFP on the sidelines of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, curator Ryan Linkof shared new details about the institution, a passion project decades in the making from *Star Wars* creator George Lucas and his wife, business leader Mellody Hobson.
Housed in a striking futuristic building spanning more than 9,200 square meters, the museum will distribute over 1,300 collected works across 33 dedicated galleries. While the institution’s collection spans the full breadth of narrative art — from iconic illustrations by Norman Rockwell, Jessie Willcox Smith, and N.C. Wyeth to fine art pieces by Frida Kahlo, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, and Robert Colescott, and original cartoon works from legends including Winsor McCay, Jack Kirby, and Frank Frazetta — it is the unshown *Star Wars* material that is poised to captivate fans around the world.
As the official home of the Lucas Archives and all Lucasfilm production materials, the museum will host a dedicated *Star Wars* exhibition featuring one-of-a-kind items that have never been put on public display before. Linkof noted that narrative art, the category the museum centers, is often overlooked by traditional cultural institutions, with few major art museums dedicating space to collecting or exhibiting this popular, accessible art form. As a result, much of the material set to go on display is extremely rare, making the museum a unique cultural destination.
For many *Star Wars* fandom members, however, the Lucasfilm production archives will remain the crown jewel of the institution. Linkof also opened up about the challenges the project has faced over its decades-long development, including significant disruptions caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these hurdles, the curator frames the museum as the culmination of Lucas’s celebrated 60-plus-year career, echoing Hobson’s framing that Lucas has two defining legacies: his first was creating *Star Wars*, and his second is building this museum to share his collection with the public.
Now 82 years old, Lucas remains actively involved in every step of the project’s final preparations ahead of opening. Linkof confirmed that the legendary filmmaker is deeply pleased with how the institution has come together. Last year marked Lucas’s first ever visit to Comic-Con’s iconic Hall H, where he traveled specifically to share updates on the museum with pop culture fans. This year, Linkof took the stage at the convention alongside guests including actor Keke Palmer and DC Comics President Jim Lee to preview the coming attraction.
Lee, who joined the museum’s panel at Comic-Con, shared his enthusiasm for the institution’s mission. “I think that if you go to this museum, you will see art that you will recognize and have seen your entire life, through commercials, through comic books, but you will see it in a different way that will hopefully enlighten and inspire you,” Lee said. “This is amazing art, we have it all around us, how lucky are we?”