Banksy's Girl with Balloon (signed) screenprint. An iconic example of the artist’s narrative approach to contemporary art, from the Andipa collection.
On 22 September 2026, Los Angeles will welcome one of its most anticipated new cultural institutions: the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Founded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, philanthropist and businesswoman Mellody Hobson, the museum is dedicated to exploring the power of images to tell stories, communicate ideas and shape collective memory. Located in Exposition Park, the museum brings together an unusually broad range of art, from painting and illustration to comics, photography, cinema and contemporary street art.
The museum represents the culmination of more than five decades of collecting by George Lucas. Its founding collection comprises more than 40,000 works, encompassing American illustration, comic art, photography, film-related material and works by artists from around the world. Rather than following a conventional chronology or dividing works strictly by medium, the museum approaches its collection through the human experiences and stories that connect them. Galleries explore themes including family, love, community, work, play, childhood, adventure and fantasy.
A New Vision of Narrative Art
At the heart of the Lucas Museum is the idea that narrative art should be understood not simply as a category or genre, but as a fundamental way in which people make sense of the world. Its inaugural displays bring together more than 1,200 objects across approximately 100,000 square feet of gallery space, tracing visual storytelling across cultures and centuries. Ancient sculpture and Renaissance painting sit alongside illustration, comics, photography and modern cinema, creating unexpected connections between forms of art that have traditionally occupied very different positions within the cultural canon.
Particularly significant is the museum's attention to artists whose work has historically existed outside traditional definitions of fine art. The collection includes major holdings by American illustrators such as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish, alongside comic artists including Jack Kirby and Winsor McCay. There are also works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Kadir Nelson and other artists whose practices demonstrate the varied ways in which images can record, interpret or invent stories.
The architecture of the Lucas Museum is itself an important part of the experience. Designed by architect Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, the five-storey building occupies an 11-acre campus and is characterised by sweeping, organic forms that appear to float above the landscape. The surrounding gardens were designed by landscape architect Mia Lehrer and Studio-MLA, creating an integrated relationship between architecture, art and public space.
Cinema naturally occupies an important place within an institution founded by the creator of Star Wars. The inaugural programme includes Star Wars in Motion, bringing together production designs, props and costumes from across the film series. Two dedicated theatres will also present a wide-ranging programme spanning early silent cinema, avant-garde film, animation and documentary, further extending the museum's exploration of storytelling beyond the static image.
Banksy at the Lucas Museum
Among the most compelling aspects for contemporary art audiences is the inclusion of Banksy within the museum's inaugural displays. A presentation of narrative art and public murals includes works by the British street artist, alongside acquisitions that have never previously been exhibited and works acquired directly from Banksy's studio. The museum highlights Banksy alongside muralists including Judith F. Baca, Diego Rivera and JR, placing his work within a broader history of artists who have used public and accessible imagery to engage with social memory and contemporary life.
The inclusion is significant. Banksy's practice has long been rooted in visual immediacy: images that communicate complex ideas through economy, humour and symbolism. His works often function as narratives in miniature, inviting viewers to construct a story around a single gesture, character or unexpected juxtaposition. Within the Lucas Museum, this quality connects naturally with a wider history of artists who have used images to reach audiences beyond traditional art institutions.
The museum's opening therefore represents more than the arrival of a major new building in Los Angeles. It signals a broader reconsideration of what constitutes significant visual culture and whose work deserves to be preserved, studied and presented within a major museum. By bringing together canonical artists, illustrators, comic artists, filmmakers and contemporary figures such as Banksy, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art proposes a more expansive understanding of art—one grounded in the enduring human desire to tell and understand stories.
As the museum opens its doors this September, it is set to become a significant new destination within Los Angeles's already extraordinary cultural landscape. More importantly, it offers an opportunity to reconsider the boundaries between fine art, popular culture and visual storytelling—and to see how, across centuries and mediums, images continue to shape the way we understand ourselves and the world around us.
