LACMA's David Geffen Galleries, Lucas Museum, Meow Wolf set to open during huge year for art in L.A.

This twelvemonth marks a veritable museum-palooza arsenic Los Angeles debuts 4 caller large arts complexes, with 3 successful the wings apt to unfastened successful beforehand of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Immerse yourself successful a psychedelic detonation astatine Meow Wolf, program an day liaison with Van Gogh astatine LACMA’s caller David Geffen Galleries, inhale the scent of quality wrong Refik Anadol’s AI arts museum, Dataland, oregon simply geek retired implicit George Lucas’ jaw-dropping postulation of “Star Wars” memorabilia.

Whatever your arts craving whitethorn be, this astoundingly affluent caller lineup of caller section museums has you covered.

LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries

The caller David Geffen Galleries, opening successful 2026, are composed wholly of Brutalist concrete.

(Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s David Geffen Galleries are acceptable to debut this April to members, earlier opening for wide admittance astatine the opening of May. The $720-million Geffen Galleries volition show 2,500-3,000 objects from LACMA’s collection.

The building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning designer Peter Zumthor, is described by supporters arsenic a “concrete sculpture” and volition big 90 accumulation galleries crossed 110,000 quadrate feet. The Wilshire Boulevard museum’s inaugural accumulation volition signifier artwork by the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea alternatively of by mean oregon period.

“The thought is for you to marque your ain way — not to talk astatine you, but to fto you rotation similar you would done a parkland oregon a place,” LACMA Director and Chief Executive Michael Govan said successful an interrogation with The Times. “That alteration successful attitude, and however the gathering is built, is truly exciting.”

Some of the most-anticipated works connected show see Georges de La Tour’s “The Magdalen With the Smoking Flame” (1640), Henri Matisse’s “La Gerbe” (1953) and Vincent Van Gogh’s “Tarascon Stagecoach” (1888).

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

The gardens astatine the Lucas Museum, designed by Studio-MLA, connected Monday, May 19, 2025.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

After much than 10 years of anticipation, George Lucas and Mellody Hobson’s depository volition unfastened successful Exposition Park this September. With implicit 10,000 quadrate feet of galleries, the depository volition diagnostic a wide array of artwork and popular civilization ephemera, including Lucas’ idiosyncratic trove of “Star Wars” movie franchise treasures, “Peanuts” comic strips, “Alice’s Adventures successful Wonderland” illustrations, a Richard Sargent coating and covers of the Saturday Evening Post.

Lucas donated his postulation to curate the Lucas Archives, which, successful summation to “Star Wars,” volition encompass props and accumulation creation from Lucasfilm projects, specified arsenic the “Indiana Jones” franchise.

One of the museum’s defining features is its monolithic green-roof plot designed by Mia Lehrer and her scenery architecture steadfast Studio-MLA.

“This brings everything together,” Lehrer said successful an interrogation with The Times. “Design, ecology, storytelling, infrastructure, community. It’s the fullest look of what scenery tin be.”

Meow Wolf

A work-in-progress portion acceptable to beryllium featured successful Meow Wolf L.A. arsenic seen during a locomotion done astatine the group’s warehouse successful Santa Fe connected Oct. 15, 2025.

(Gabriela Campos/For The Times)

Meow Wolf’s L.A. determination volition reimagine a ’90s movie theatre with its takeover of the Cinemark astatine West L.A.’s Howard Hughes amusement analyzable extracurricular Culver City. Meow Wolf’s sixth imperishable accumulation comes connected the heels of the immersive creation creator’s 52,000-square-foot psychedelic creation installation successful Las Vegas, which was disguised arsenic a dystopian market store called Omega Mart and promptly went viral connected TikTok.

Complete with sci-fi elements, a meditative abstraction and a 30-foot-tall mushroom tower, Meow Wolf’s caller determination volition unfastened astatine the extremity of 2026. Although organizers person kept overmuch of the accumulation nether wraps, visitors tin expect to beryllium transfixed by a thoroughly Los Angeles tale.

“It’s chill that we’re creating a communicative astir a pilgrimage, due to the fact that L.A. is that for truthful galore artists, particularly radical progressive successful storytelling,” Shakti Howeth, Meow Wolf‘s originative director, told The Times. “It’s 1 of those places that’s built connected layers and layers of dreams, and we’re truly exploring that here. Not lone dreams but breached dreams — the compost that tin hap erstwhile you digest breached dreams.”

Refik Anadol’s Dataland

Refik Anadol’s Infinity Room is meant to beryllium a multisensory experience.

(Dataland)

Opening this outpouring astatine the Frank Gehry-designed Grand L.A., Dataland dubs itself the world’s archetypal depository of AI arts. Turkish American creator Refik Anadol designed his ain AI model, named the Large Nature Model, which lone sources worldly with support from archetypal creators, making it what Anadol calls “ethical” AI. Partners see the Smithsonian and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“I’m calling this caller creation signifier not AR, not VR, not XR — truthful we are inactive uncovering a sanction for it. The champion sanction truthful far, and radical emotion it, is generative reality,” Anadol told The Times.

Dataland volition diagnostic 5 galleries, including the Infinity Room, which Anadol archetypal created successful 2014 arsenic a pupil astatine UCLA. In different exhibit, helium trained an AI exemplary connected fractional a cardinal scents and built a instrumentality to propulsion those scents into the assemblage to make a wholly immersive viewing experience.

Opening Later

The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California

Slated to implicit operation successful downtown Glendale successful precocious 2026, the 51,000-square-foot Armenian American Museum has been successful the works for much than a decade. With a $67-million budget, the depository volition see imperishable and impermanent exhibitions, arsenic good arsenic an auditorium, learning center, archives postulation and a objection kitchen.

The depository is an inaugural of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee Western US, and readying began arsenic the radical prepared to people the the 100th day of the Armenian Genocide successful 2015. The depository is adorned with the 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet and a solid hazarashen skylight, inspired by accepted roofs successful homes crossed the Armenian Highlands.

“The Armenian American Museum was erstwhile an idea, past a vision, and contiguous is rising earlier our eyes,” depository Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian said successful a statement. “This advancement is the effect of an bonzer corporate effort by Armenians and non-Armenians present successful California, crossed the United States and astir the world.”

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center successful Los Angeles is simply a large enlargement of the California Science Center.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

A coagulated opening day has not yet been announced, but the $400-million Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center astatine the California Science Center successful Exposition Park is busily preparing for liftoff. Construction connected the gathering began successful 2022. The shiny caller gathering volition beryllium location to the Korean Air Aviation Gallery, Kent Kresa Space Gallery and the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, which volition big the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Endeavour volition beryllium displayed successful motorboat position, making it the tallest authentic spacecraft displayed vertically successful the world, with a tallness of 20 stories. One of 3 surviving abstraction shuttles, Endeavour made 25 palmy missions into space.

The halfway is besides expected to person 20 planes and jets, including a Boeing 747, a mock formation platform and a brace of introductory films produced by J.J. Abrams’ institution Bad Robot, 1 of which volition extremity with a simulated launch.

“It is an astonishing experience, and we privation to truly physique it up,” Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president and main enforcement of the California Science Center, told The Times. “It’s not conscionable astir the hardware but astir the radical and the acquisition aspects.”

The Broad Expansion

Exterior rendering of the aboriginal Broad enlargement from Hope Street.

(The Broad. © Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R))

Opening successful 2028, the Broad enlargement volition incorporate 70% much assemblage space, 2 outdoor courtyards, a unrecorded programming abstraction and views of the museum’s creation retention vault. First announced successful 2024, the $100-million summation is slated for completion earlier the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Located successful downtown L.A., the enlargement was deemed indispensable aft the depository importantly exceeded visitant projections. The caller gathering volition invert the existing Broad museum’s architectural design, with a smooth, grey operation attached to the archetypal construction.

“The thought is that it adds caller facets to the visitor’s travel done the expanded Broad,” said Joanne Heyler, founding manager and president of the Broad, successful an interrogation with The Times. “In a way, the existing gathering is ever benignant of talking to you. And determination volition beryllium a akin happening happening with the expansion, but conscionable a somewhat antithetic conversation, similar you’re listening to its sibling.”