Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts Hits a Snag… Again
Pop quiz hotshot, after reinventing the art of filmmaking and creating quite possibly the most-loved and influential franchise in pop culture history… what do you do next?
Well if you’re George Lucas and you’ve sold off the rights of Lucasfilm to Disney, you build a museum. Yes since January 2014 George Lucas has been trying to make his vision into a reality. Lucas first attempted to bring it to San Francisco before plans fell through. More recently the fight has been to bring it to Chicago. However, a dispute over the land with an activist group may have derailed plans yet again.
I’m sure your first question is what is this museum going to showcase? A museum dedicated to Star Wars wouldn’t be a bad idea for most fans. It actually turns out that it’ll be a museum celebrating Narrative Art. Everything from paintings to ancient Greek drawings to manga to filmmaking in all of its forms. The next question is probably what’s the issue? As always there are two sides to each story, but what it comes down to is George Lucas wants a waterside view for the museum. First attempting to build in San Francisco’s Presidio national park before being voted down by the Presidio Trust. As of late June in 2014 the plan had been to relocate to Chicago for it’s lakefront property. The problem came from the activist group Friends Of The Parks which had declared it will do “whatever it takes” to prevent it. Their objection being that the land Lucas wants to build on is parkland (again) and yet it may seem tempting to dismiss the activists as being pedantic about the whole affair, there is another thing to consider. Park lands already have to fight for their rights not to be encroached on by businesses and what not. It’s a very real concern that if Lucas gets to build on it, it could set legal precedent allowing others to also swallow up the land. As a result of Friends Of The Park’s lawsuit tying this up, Lucas has stated he is considering plans to take his museum elsewhere.
Lucas has stated numerous times before that he hopes to see the museum finished before he dies. It’s also been reported that Lucas plans to pay the $400 million project completely out of his own pocket. Personally I think he could easily find a good spot to build this in any city and is being a little too stubborn. That being said, I LOVE the idea of this museum. I would absolutely go to it, there’s even a part that makes me what to go get a Master’s degree just to get a job there where ever it ends up being built. And there’s no doubt in my mind that plenty of cities would open their doors willingly to bring this to them. If this sounds interesting to you or you simply wish to learn more visit the official website. It and the project in general’s potential makes me so excited not just for myself, but for what it could help do for future generations. George Lucas and his partner (and wife) Mellody Hobson has frequently referred to the museum as a gift to the children, let’s hope it gets to them sooner rather than later.
What do you think? Will you visit the Lucas Museum? What exhibits do you want to see?
This story first reported by Chicago.Curbed.com
