Image source: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Offers Free Admission to Neighbors
Welcome back to the Sunstone Way!
It all started 49 years ago with a science fiction movie called “Star Wars.” This week, the $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opened at Exposition Park on 160 acres of land next to the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the 4-0 University of Southern California Trojans play (and where two Olympic Games have taken place, with a third on tap in 2028)!
George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, financed the five-story, 300,000-square-foot building, which resembles a starship (at least to me). They’ve also donated their huge art collection, and established a $400 million endowment for future operations.
Not bad for a young movie writer and director with a dream.
All About Perseverance
The first Star Wars movie premiered on May 25, 1977. According to movie lore, it took Lucas four years from starting the script to making the final edit. He worked on the script for two-and-a-half years before the 20th Century Fox studio officially agreed to make the movie.
It might be easy to think that “the rest, as they say, is history.” But the Star Wars saga, along with Indiana Jones and others under the Lucasfilm banner, each required perseverance and hard work. George Lucas and his partners had to be innovative every step of the way to continue creating the movie magic they became known for.
Creation of the Lucas Museum itself was an exercise in perseverance as well. It has been 17 years since George Lucas and Mellody Hobson announced the museum concept, with plans to build it in San Francisco.
After those negotiations fell apart, a second effort was mounted to build the museum in Chicago. That attempt got to the level of architectural drawings before opponents fighting for park space prevailed.
The Right Fit
It would seem that George Lucas decided to return to his roots for a third try at making his museum dream become reality. He (like me) is a graduate of USC, so what better place than across the street from the USC campus?
Exposition Park long has been home to collections of history. The Natural History Museum opened in 1913; the USC Fisher Museum of Art opened in 1939; the California African American Museum opened in 1984 to coincide with the Olympic Games; the California Science Center opened in 1998; and the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is set to open this November, complete with the Space Shuttle Endeavor in launch-ready position.
In general, museums demonstrate another important part of innovation – any innovation has to build upon what has come before it. Those great special effects that made “Star Wars” such a memorable experience for moviegoers were developed at Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic by building on what had been done before.
That is, in large part, what makes the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art such a special place – it explores the evolution of telling stories with art from the past through today.
The Next Generation
Creativity takes many forms on the USC campus the street from the Lucas Museum, and Sunstone plays a key role in one such endeavor – the Sunstone Economic Development Challenge @ USC Price.
No movies will be made – at least that I’m aware of – in this particular program. But there will be plenty of creativity and innovation involved as graduate students at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy work to create new economic development ideas for the municipalities they have been paired with for the school year.
I am a product of the Price School, and the lessons learned there have stood me in good stead as I tried new things to improve my adopted city of Long Beach. This will be the fifth year of the Economic Development Challenge, and I believe it has developed a reputation for bringing fresh eyes to old problems in cities and towns willing to become partners in the effort.
Who knows? A field trip to the Lucas Museum might be in order to provide some inspiration! Now that would definitely be the Sunstone Way!
Remember, always be a Sunstone.
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone
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