Los Angeles Wins Bid for Lucas Museum The gallery will be surrounded by museums in LA's Exposition Park.
By Stephanie Mlot •
This story originally appeared on PCMag
The force is strong with Los Angeles, future home to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The Board of Directors on Tuesday announced plans to build the Lucas Museum in LA's Exposition Park.
"We have been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive support we received from both San Francisco and Los Angeles during our selection process," the Board said. "Settling on a location proved to be an extremely difficult decision precisely because of the desirability of both sites and cities."
Located in South Los Angeles's Promise Zone (a recent federal designation aimed at reducing poverty), Exposition Park already houses three "world-class" museums: the California Science Center, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California African American Museum.
"As a museum uniquely focused on narrative art, we look forward to becoming part of a dynamic museum community," according to the Board of Directors, which includes Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter.
Designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects in Beijing, the gallery is expected to include underground parking for 1,800 vehicles and six to seven acres of additional green space. Inside the 265,000- to 275,000-square-foot building, visitors will be invited to traverse up to 100,000 square feet of showrooms.
The non-profit museum celebrates the power of visual storytelling via narrative painting, illustration, photography, film, animation and digital art; look for original, artist-made creations -- from sketches and storyboards to film sets and costumes. Folks can also sit in on daily movie screenings, attend film premieres, watch public lectures and join hands-on workshops.
"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," this week's announcement said.
News of an official address comes less than seven months after the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art ditched Chicago's Soldier Field parking lot as a potential site.
"No one benefits from continuing their [Friends of the Parks'] seemingly unending litigation to protect a parking lot," museum founder and chairman George Lucas said in a statement over the summer.
