The Research Library serves as an essential primer for the museum’s philosophy. The ground floor is open to the public and features a curated selection of books that provide context for the art found in the galleries. The collection is vast and eclectic, featuring titles that highlight the diverse inspirations behind narrative storytelling. Among the notable volumes are A Day in the Life of America, a celebrated coffee table book by Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen that uses photography to capture the soul of a nation, and Alice A. Carter’s The Red Rose Girls: An Uncommon Story of Art and Love, which chronicles the lives and works of influential female illustrators at the turn of the 20th century.
The covers of these books alone tell a story. The deep blue, nighttime imagery of the American West on Smolan’s book evokes the mythic era of the cowboy, a seminal theme in American narrative art. In contrast, the floral elegance of Carter’s biography reflects the domestic and professional struggles of female artists in a male-dominated industry. The library encourages a slow, immersive experience, inviting visitors to browse the stacks and return books to their places, though the sheer volume of material ensures that even the most dedicated reader would find it impossible to consume everything in a single lifetime.
The upper floors of the library offer even more specialized resources, though access is currently more restricted. The second floor houses the Skywalker Ranch Library, a collection of research materials and volumes that George Lucas and his collaborators consulted while building the worlds of his various film franchises. The third floor contains a massive donation of approximately 3,000 art books from the personal collection of actor and art enthusiast Steve Martin and his wife, Anne Stringfield. The presence of these collections underscores the museum’s thesis: that great art does not emerge from a vacuum, but is built upon a foundation of research, historical context, and diverse literary influences.
Going into the gallery
Moving from the library to the main gallery building, the visitor experience shifts from the literary to the purely visual. The first floor introduces the "History of Narrative Art: Heroes, Myths, the Sacred." This introductory gallery features works that align most closely with traditional museum expectations. It includes high-quality reproductions and originals that echo the styles of the Old Masters, such as Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and iconic depictions like the Portrait of Henry VIII. While this section provides a necessary historical anchor, it intentionally mimics the "fine art" atmosphere of older institutions before the museum pivots into more contemporary and diverse territory.
