George Lucas to Helm Namesake Museum’s “Content Direction” as Director Departs
128March 4, 2025
Sandra Jackson-Dumont, who since January 2020 has served as theinaugural director and CEOof theLucas Museum of Narrative Art, will leave the still-under-construction Los Angeles Institution, while renownedStar Warsdirector George Lucas, for whom the museum is named, will take primary responsibility for curatorial direction. The role of CEO, which will henceforth be separate from that of director, will go to Jim Gianopulos, former chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures, on an interim basis, while a permanent CEO is sought. The transition is set to take place April 1.Lucas and fellow museum cofounder Mellody Hobson, a co-CEO and the president of Ariel Investments, in a statement attributed Jackson-Dumont’s departure as related to the splitting of the dual roles she once held. “Sandra’s transformative leadership over the past five years has been essential to preparing the museum for its opening,” the pair wrote. “Her dedication to advancing narrative art and realizing our vision has helped lay the groundwork to establish the museum as a vital cultural resource for Los Angeles and a future destination for those who will visit from around the world. Sandra has helped create an institution that will serve and inspire generations to come.”
The museum has been in the works for more than a decade. Under Jackson-Dumont’s leadership, its opening has been pushed back three times. The initial delay came in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, while a second, in late 2022, was owing to a need to ensure that the building underwent “proper readiness and remediation processes,” according to Jackson-Dumont. No reason was made public for the most recent delay, to a 2026 opening, announced in December. Dumont during her tenure she hired six women, five of them of color, to key leadership roles. As well, she grew the museum’s collection, notably shepherding its $15.3 million purchase of Robert Colescott’s 1975 canvasGeorge Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware River: Page from an American History Textbook.