After nearly a decade of development, George Lucas’s $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is set to open on September 22 in Exposition Park, South Los Angeles. The museum, funded entirely by Lucas, focuses on storytelling through images across cultures and eras. Despite its ‘Star Wars’ founder, only about seven percent of gallery space is dedicated to the franchise, though a Naboo N-1 Starfighter greets visitors in the lobby and other ‘Star Wars’ artifacts appear in the cinema gallery and gardens.

The museum emphasizes illustration and narrative art often overlooked by traditional institutions, featuring over 1,300 objects across 33 galleries and 100,000 square feet. Exhibits span prehistoric cave art, Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo, comic strips like ‘Alley Oop’ — the first artwork Lucas ever acquired — and fantasy art from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to Conan the Barbarian. Mellody Hobson, Lucas’s wife and business partner, describes the mission as celebrating ‘the people’s art’ that illustrates myths and gives meaning to communities.

The museum opens with a goal to elevate illustrators and broaden the definition of art through accessible, universal storytelling.