Explore Our Campus

From Ma Yansong’s architectural vision to Mia Lehrer’s dynamic gardens, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art emerges from Exposition Park as a place where imagination and everyday life meet.
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Our home is an 11-acre (4.5-hectare) campus made up of trees and landscaped gardens that surround a 300,000-square-foot (27,800-square-meter) building. Inside, the five-story museum offers 100,000 square feet (9,300 square meters) of galleries, two state-of-the-art cinematic theaters, and spaces for learning, dining, retail, and more.

Mia Lehrer and her team at Studio-MLA have transformed former parking lots into a living landscape. Native and drought-tolerant plantings, more than 200 new trees, and landforms inspired by the city’s geography create a shifting environment through the seasons. Paths, meadows, and shaded gathering areas offer much-needed green space for the South Los Angeles region.

The museum also incorporates sustainable design throughout the campus. Its landscaping captures rainwater for irrigation, a waterfall-like fountain contributes to renewable cooling, and solar panels on the roof supply clean energy. These visible and functional features reflect a commitment to both aesthetic design and environmental responsibility.

Architect Ma Yansong (MAD) conceived the museum as a sculptural, organic form shaped by light, clouds, and the surrounding tree canopy. Rising from Exposition Park, it feels both grounded and ethereal, embodying the museum’s belief in imagination as a shared public resource.

The building is the culmination of a 15-year collaboration between Ma and the museum’s founders, along with Michael Siegel of Stantec as executive architect. “Sometimes I don’t need words to explain,” Ma says of George Lucas. “He can just feel it.”

Lifted above the ground, the museum engages with the street on a human scale, encouraging social interaction while preserving views of Exposition Park. Central steel arches spanning 185 feet (56 meters) form a suspended plaza—a shaded, protected gathering space. From here, visitors move through north and south lobbies, where tall ceilings and abundant natural light create welcoming entrances, while the central elliptical Oculus frames a striking view from ground to sky.

Sunlight floods the museum’s luminous main lobby, where sweeping arches soar overhead and glass elevators ascend, carrying visitors to the upper-level galleries and the restaurant.

The museum’s galleries—more than 100,000 square feet (9,300 square meters)—present works organized around enduring themes, from the everyday to the fantastical.

The museum’s library is both a research center and a quiet space for reflection. It supports scholars, students, and curious visitors exploring the breadth of narrative art.

The Lucas Museum is designed as a place to spend an entire day—and evening—in one dynamic setting. In addition to its galleries, our five-story building features two state-of-the-art cinematic theaters. Visitors can enjoy a café and a rooftop restaurant offering sweeping views of the city. Retail spaces present signature merchandise inspired by the museum’s collection. Throughout the building, flexible spaces support public programs, learning opportunities, and community engagement. Together, these spaces create an experience that moves seamlessly from curiosity to discovery, conversation, and beyond.

Located in South Los Angeles’s Exposition Park, the museum stands within a constellation of cultural institutions and a wider community rich in history, creativity, and learning.

The park itself dates to 1872, when the state of California set aside the land for agricultural fairs and exhibitions: a public gathering place devoted to education, industry, and exchange. Over the next century and a half, it evolved into a civic and cultural hub and has served as a venue for two Olympic Games, in 1932 and 1984, and will do so again in 2028. Today, the 160-acre (65-hectare) park includes the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California African American Museum, the California Science Center, the LA Memorial Coliseum, BMO Stadium, and the Exposition Park Rose Garden. Just across the street sits the University of Southern California (USC), whose students, faculty, and visitors contribute to the area’s intellectual life and daily energy.

Surrounded by culturally rich neighborhoods with strong community ties, the museum’s location inspires conversation and connection.