Photograph: Patrick PriceAfter breaking ground back in 2018, the long-awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is finally opening in September. It announced its ticketing details just last week: Future visitors to this shrine to storytelling can purchase tickets online beginning Tuesday, July 21, at 1 0am, and general admission tickets will cost $25—a pretty reasonable price, in line with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and LACMA. But this morning, the museum unveiled a special program for its neighbors: the LM37 pass, which will grant ongoing free access to the museum to all those living in the 90037 zip code. I spoke with Lucas Museum CEO Tracey Bates about the details of the program and more exciting museum news on the horizon. “Our founders [George Lucas and Mellody Hobson] have always wanted to be truly committed to the community that we’ve entered here at Exposition Park and all the surrounding neighborhood,” says Bates. “It’s been an exciting but long eight-year project here, and we wanted to make sure that [the direct neighbors] were gifted something back immediately as a thank you.” Those direct neighbors are the residents of South L.A.—over 65,000 people reside within the 90037 zip code. And all of them can apply for an LM37 pass, which will allow them to reserve free museum tickets for themselves and one guest. The best part? The long-term pass isn’t good for just one visit; it has no expiration date and can be renewed each year with proof of address. All those eligible can sign up at lucasmuseum.org/lm37 to be notified as soon as they can register for a pass in August. “We’re really excited to bring such a significant art museum to South Central,” says Bates. So while the museum opens to all on September 22, a special Community Preview Day will be held nine days earlier, on September 13, giving those in the neighborhood a sneak peak at the museum. Tickets for that will be distributed through community partners and to registered LM37 passholders. For those that live in one of L.A. County’s some 500 other zip codes, keep an eye out for details on upcoming community days that will run wider than the 90037, according to Bates. Those and lots of other exciting programs are still T.B.A., including after-hours nights, music performances and events in the surrounding parks and gardens, taking advantage of the 11-acre campus. Photograph: Photo by Sand Hill Media/Eric Furie. © 2025 JAKS ProductionsAerial view of Lucas Museum park. “We’re just so excited, you know, after eight years, to be opening the doors to the people. We are very excited to see how Angelenos respond to the museum. We are very excited to open the parks and gardens and have such a large green space to add to the community here in South Central L.A.,” says Bates. “So I think as well as the art on the walls and the programming we’ll be creating, I never want people to forget the parks and gardens that we’re opening too, because that’s just a great space to come and feel a sense of community.” So once you do get to visit the museum, what can you expect to see? “Everyone assumes a certain amount of Star Wars, but it’s so much more than that,” says Bates, who details highlights including a community gallery where the artwork ranges from Frida Kahlo paintings to one of the famed “Dogs Playing Poker” series by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. More than 1,200 pieces have been selected for the museum’s first installation (selected from Lucas’s collection of over 40,000 items). These will be installed throughout some 30 galleries and 100,000 square feet. The artwork will span prehistoric cave paintings and ancient sculptures of gods and goddesses all the way to comics and artifacts from modern cinema. You’ll find pieces by Norman Rockwell, Jack Kirby, Beatrix Potter, N.C. Wyeth, photographer Dorothea Lange and more modern names like cartoonist Alison Bechdel all under the same roof—in short, there should be something for everyone. With the opening of the Lucas Museum in September, Exposition Park is poised to be a hub of L.A.’s cultural scene, rivaling Miracle Mile. Between the newcomer and its neighbors—the Natural History Museum (which is free for all L.A. residents weekday afternoons) and the always-free California African American Museum and California Science Center, which will open its ambitious Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center expansion in November—you could spend an entire, very budget-friendly weekend at the park getting your fill of history, science and art. ...read more read less