Lucas Museum Opens With Star-Studded LA Gala — SkimNews
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- George Lucas and Mellody Hobson opened the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts in Los Angeles on Saturday, after earlier attempts to build the museum in San Francisco and Chicago hit legal hurdles ("third time is a charm," Hobson said).
- Queen Latifah told the crowd Lucas grew his collection from a $35 Alley Oop drawing to 40,000 pieces, largely illustrations that "many don't consider real art that belongs in a museum" — a skepticism Lucas pushed back on: "you get to decide what art is."
- Event co-chairs included Guillermo del Toro, Greta Gerwig, Lewis Hamilton, Steven Spielberg, Pharrell Williams, JR, and Julie Bell; architect Ma Yansong corrected the popular misconception that the building is shaped like a spaceship — it's modeled after a cloud.
- Celebrity sightings ranged from Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Christopher Nolan, and Francis Ford Coppola to buzzy pairings like Katy Perry and former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau browsing galleries hand-in-hand, and Lewis Hamilton with Kim Kardashian.
- CEOs in attendance included Disney's Josh D'Amaro, Netflix's Ted Sarandos, YouTube's Neal Mohan, and Snap's Evan Spiegel, alongside former Disney chief Bob Iger and ex-Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom drew shout-outs for officially signing a post-production tax credit bill earlier that same day, with Nancy Pelosi and LA Mayor Karen Bass also on hand.
- A 9 PM drone show narrated by Oprah Winfrey and Samuel L. Jackson projected art from the collection — Star Wars' R2-D2, Marvel's Captain America, Banksy, and Frida Kahlo — followed by an afterparty with Black Eyed Peas members performing.
Why it matters: The Lucas Museum gives narrative and illustrative art — long dismissed by the traditional art world — a 40,000-piece, purpose-built home in LA, with Lucas and Hobson openly framing it as a populist counter to the elitist "art film" establishment. The Newsom-signed post-production tax credit signed the same day signals California is doubling down on keeping film and TV production infrastructure in-state alongside cultural institutions.
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