The Star Wars creator and avid collector, George Lucas, has been trying to find a place to showcase his collection for a decade. After the spot been discussed in recent weeks between LA, Chicago and San Francisco, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has found its home in Los Angeles.
The project is expected to cost upwards of $1 billion and the filmmaker himself will fund the museum out of pocket and fill it with his own personal art collection, which includes famous paintings, film artifacts, and a whole lot of one-of-a-kind Star Wars stuff.
According to the project’s website, the museum "will celebrate the power of visual storytelling in a setting focused on narrative painting, illustration, photography, film, animation and digital art".
The collection will be feature looking art through three lenses:
-The History of Narrative Art: traditional paintings by Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, as well as a broad range of illustration, children’s art, comic art and photography from many periods and cultures.
-The Art of Cinema: explores all facets of cinematic art and its design processes, including concept art, storyboards, set design, props, costume and fashion, animation and visual effects.
-The Digital Art: new technologies and media from digital cinema to digital architecture, bringing together works by artists such as Andy Warhol, Zaha Hadid and Pixar Animation, to name a few.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti pronounced that "LA is gaining a new jewel with the breathtaking Lucas Museum of Narrative Art". He claims the content of the museum – George Lucas' private collection, including art and memorabilia from the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies – carries "so much meaning in the history and legacy of Los Angeles".
The project also includes a number of theaters, classroom space, and lecture halls, and will have a rich programming schedule that will allow student filmmakers to screen their films, and will host visiting artists, workshops, and after-school programs.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will be built in the Exposition Park area of Los Angeles and is expected to be complete by 2020.