LOS ANGELES \u2013 Star Wars superfans and art lovers alike descended on George Lucas\u2019s long-awaited Museum of Narrative Art for its grand opening on Sept 22, lining up to experience the colossal structure that itself recalls a spaceship.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles museum built by the 82-year-old Star Wars franchise creator alongside his wife and business partner Mellody Hobson is intended to be a \u201cpeople\u2019s temple of art\u201d, according to its creators.<\/p>\n
The duo stood at the museum\u2019s entrance as its first 100 visitors were invited in, shaking hands with each of them as they entered the biomorphic building.<\/p>\n
Eric Cheung, a dentist and realtor who arrived in a Star Wars X-wing pilot costume \u2013 a get-up featuring a bright orange jumpsuit and distinct combat helmet, like that worn by Luke Skywalker himself \u2013 said he was quick to become a museum member and even trained as a volunteer.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach art piece tells a story,\u201d he told AFP of the museum\u2019s intentions. \u201cEverybody can look at the same thing, and then we can create different stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
The museum was built on what used to be a carpark next to the University of Southern California, the filmmaker\u2019s alma mater.<\/p>\n
For Brenda Chambliss, a resident of the area in south Los Angeles for more than a decade, it \u201cmeans everything\u201d that Lucas put the museum in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
The area can carry a \u201cstigma\u201d tied to crime or poverty, she said, and the \u201cbreathtaking\u201d building filled with art is a positive new attraction, not least for its surrounding park that is open to the public without a ticket.<\/p>\n
\u2018Help local artists\u2019<\/p>\n
At the entrance, visitors are greeted by the yellow Naboo N-1 starfighter from Star Wars: Episode I \u2013 The Phantom Menace (1999), but with more than 9,300 sq m of exhibition space, the offerings go far beyond the beloved saga.<\/p>\n
Its more than 30 galleries feature works by artists including Banksy, Frida Kahlo, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White and Robert Colescott; comics by Winsor McCay, Jack Kirby and Frank Frazetta; and illustrations by Norman Rockwell, Jessie Willcox Smith and N.C. Wyeth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really love that Lucas is using his platform to bring other artists together,\u201d Sandi Granados told AFP in the gift shop, where she was purchasing a trippy, colourful print of a Darth Vader flanked by stormtroopers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just for him,\u201d said the 30-year-old cosmetologist who works in the film industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s using his name to help local artists and big artists come together.\u201dAFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Star Wars superfans and art lovers alike descended on George Lucas\u2019s long-awaited Museum of Narrative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[146,85,46,397],"class_list":["post-624810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}