George Lucas walked into his $1 billion museum on Wednesday, Sept. 2, wearing a T-shirt that read "Dedicated to the people's art."

The 82-year-old filmmaker made an unannounced appearance at a press preview of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The five-story, 300,000-square-foot institution at Exposition Park opens to the public Tuesday, Sept. 22. He spoke to about 300 reporters in one of the museum's two screening rooms while an overflow crowd filled the other.

"This has been a long haul … 17 years between getting kicked out of cities and trying to get this built, which is in itself eight years," Lucas told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm used to doing the impossible. This one almost broke my will."

Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, first tried to build the museum in Chicago and San Francisco before landing in Exposition Park, adjacent to the University of Southern California. Construction began in 2018.

What's inside

The museum holds 100,000 square feet of gallery space across more than 30 themed galleries. Its inaugural exhibitions trace the history of narrative art through more than 1,300 works. Nearly all come from the personal collections of Lucas and Hobson, a major collector of African American art.

Galleries cover adventure, motherhood, community, children's illustrations, manga and comics. Dedicated rooms spotlight Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish. The collection also includes works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Andy Warhol, Charles Schulz and Banksy.

Star Wars occupies just 7% of the museum, CEO Tracey Bates told Spectrum News. But a "Star Wars in Motion" exhibit features props and costumes from the first six films, including Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder. A life-sized Naboo N-1 Starfighter hangs in the public research library lobby.

The building and grounds

Architect Ma Yansong of MAD designed the structure, which hovers above the ground and touches down at only a few points. A 185-foot-wide central arch connects the north and south lobbies. An elliptical oculus four stories up opens a view straight to the sky.

More than 1,200 individually shaped fiberglass-reinforced polymer panels wrap the exterior, according to Archinect. Ma Yansong said the building was meant to spark curiosity, comparing it to "… a cloud or like a tree canopy that's floating above you."

Landscape architect Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA transformed what was an asphalt parking lot into a park with more than 300 trees, drought-tolerant plantings, a meadow and an amphitheater. A fountain called "The Rain" doubles as a cooling system for the building. Ten monumental sculptures line accessible paths. The park, library and outdoor sculptures are free to visit.

Tickets and access

Adult admission costs $25. Seniors 65 and older pay $21. Visitors 17 and under get in free, as do California EBT card holders and active-duty military members.

The museum's "LM37" pass program, launched in August, gives free annual passes to residents of ZIP code 90037 in South Los Angeles. More than 65,000 people live in that ZIP code. Pass holders can reserve free tickets for themselves and one guest, KTLA reported.

A fifth-floor restaurant called Skywalker Grill offers rooftop views of downtown. The menu includes Dungeness crab cakes, a Skywalker Ranch Wagyu burger and honey miso glazed salmon. The restaurant is open to the general public, and reservations are available.

Tickets for opening day and several other early dates have sold out, KTLA reported. The museum is at One Lucas Plaza in Exposition Park.