George Lucas has chosen Chicago for his museum of art and movie memorabilia.
Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will open in 2018 to house the “Star Wars” creator’s collection of paintings, illustrations and digital art, according to the Daily Mail. It will be located on a lakefront property near the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History.
“I am humbled to be joining such an extraordinary museum community and to be creating the museum in a city that has a long tradition of embracing the arts,” Lucas said.
San Francisco and Los Angeles were also in the running, so the pick of Chicago surprised people, given Lucas’ ties to California. Lucas is a native of California and headquarters for Lucasfilm and Skywalker Sound are in San Francisco.
But Lucas’ wife Mellody is from Chicago and Mayor Rahm Emanuel lobbied hard for the museum to be built in the Windy City.
“I can’t thank George and Mellody enough,” Emanuel said. “He pledged to work with the community to develop plans for the museum.”
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“Chicago’s a great city. We have a tradition that resonates closely with the way George Lucas has described his museum, as a museum of visual storytelling,” said Gillian Darlow, a co-chairwoman of Chicago’s site selection task force.
“He wants to help inspire other people, especially kids, to have bold visions the way he did.”