One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
The Lucas Museum Of Narrative Art Is Officially Coming To L.A.
After a drawn-out battle of competing sales pitches that pitted the World's Greatest City against our substandard neighbor to the north (San Francisco), the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is officially coming to Los Angeles. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who announced the news in a tweet and press release Tuesday, had long lobbied for the museum to come to Los Angeles.
Competition for the museum settled on S.F. and L.A. after the original plans to house the museum in Chicago fell through. The museumtook the unusual step of releasing renderings for both S.F. and L.A. potential locations in late October. Beijing-born Ma Yansong (a Zaha Hadid protégée) created the sweeping, curvilinear designs for both possible locations.
It's official, Los Angeles will be the future home of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art! → https://t.co/PbEK3sNlLa pic.twitter.com/E9yfGTWud3
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) January 10, 2017
The L.A.-based Lucas Museum (!) is now slated to join the California Science Center, California African American Museum, and Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, on the narrow strip of land adjacent to Vermont Avenue at the western edge of the the park. The land in question is currently occupied by surface parking lots. The museum will have between 265,000 and 275,000 square feet of interior space, with 100,000 feet devoted to galleries, according to L.A. Times.
In a statement released on Twitter, the museum thanked both Los Angeles and San Francisco for their efforts, and cited South L.A.'s "Promise Zone" designation as especially important. "While each location offers many unique and wonderful attributes, South Los Angeles's Promise Zone best positions the museum to have the greatest impact on the broader community, fulfilling our goal of inspiring, engaging and educating a broad and diverse visitorship. Exposition Park is a magnet for the region and accessible from all parts of the city."
"L.A. is gaining a new jewel with the breathtaking Lucas Museum of Narrative Art — and its presence here means that a day at Exposition Park will soon bring unrivaled opportunities to be immersed in stories told on canvas and celluloid, be moved by the richness of African-American history and expression, be awed by the wonders of science and the natural world, take a journey to the world of space exploration, and sit in the stands for a world-class sporting event," Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
