The Lucas Museum just took a big step forward after the Los Angeles City Council approved the plan for filmmaker George Lucas' much-anticipated Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Exposition Park.
The plan calls for a five-story building with 300,000 square feet of floor area, includes a cafe, restaurant, theaters, office space, lecture halls, a library, classrooms, exhibition space as well as landscaped open space.
Los Angeles was chosen for the museum after legal challenges in Chicago forced the "Star Wars" filmmaker to consider a new location. San Francisco, only a few miles away from Skywalker Ranch, was also under consideration for the museum.
The museum will house collections of art including works by painters like Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and of course, mementos from Lucas' many films, including “Star Wars.”
Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted out the announcement thanking Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, for helping to bring the museum and their collection of art to LA.
According to the website promoting the new museum, patrons will be able to experience both 'high' and 'popular' art alongside one another.
The Lucas Museum will be a barrier free museum where artificial divisions between “high” art and “popular” art are absent, allowing you to explore a wide array of compelling visual storytelling. Visitors who might be less inclined to visit a traditional fine art museum will be invited to engage with and relate to art forms they recognize and love.
Groundbreaking is expected sometime in early 2018, and is scheduled to be constructed over a 36-month timeline. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has a preliminary opening date set for sometime in 2021.