June 30, 2016
City News Service
Mayor Eric Garcetti wasted no time last Friday in making another pitch to George Lucas to bring his museum — which would showcase the filmmaker’s art — to Los Angeles, now that plans for building it in Chicago have been abandoned
When news came in May that San Francisco was being explored as an alternative site for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art — which faced delays and legal opposition in Chicago — Garcetti said Los Angeles also would love to have the museum.
Garcetti reiterated that, saying “The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art would be perfect for Los Angeles.”
“Tens of millions of people visit our city every year — and L.A. has unquestioned stature as a world arts capital, thanks to institutions like the Broad, the Getty, MOCA and LACMA,” Garcetti said. “We would welcome the opportunity to be a permanent home for this incredible collection, which would become part of a museum culture that is unrivaled in the United States.”
David Perry, a spokesman for the museum, said Los Angeles was being considered as a potential location, along with San Francisco.
Garcetti in 2014 wrote a letter to Lucas suggesting Exposition Park, which contains the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, as a site for the Lucas museum.
Councilman Curren Price, who represents the area, joined Garcetti in issuing a statement, saying “A museum of this caliber is worthy of a world-class home and that is just what Los Angeles offers.”
Price said the museum “would enhance an already thriving museum campus at Expo Park, and enrich the lives of Angelenos of all ages,” adding his district “welcomes the Lucas Museum and this investment in South L.A. with open arms.”