How the Lucas Museum is Designing School Programs with Students at the Centre

The following is taken from a presentation at the Museums & Schools Summit 2025. This program was ended due to cuts to the Learning and Engagement and Museum Services teams soon after this talk.

—

While the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is still under construction in Los Angeles, its Learning Department is already deeply engaged with the communities it aims to serve. Their approach, shaped by formative evaluation and active listening, offers a model for how museums can co-create meaningful school programming—even before the doors open.

At the Museums & Schools Summit 2025, Kelly Williams, Araceli Espinoza Mead and Karina Esperanza Yánez from the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art shared their approach.

Building a Museum Around Its Audiences

Set to open in 2026, the Lucas Museum promises to be a state-of-the-art institution. It will house a vast and diverse collection of narrative art—spanning painting, sculpture, comic art, film, and more—within a dramatic 300,000-square-foot building nestled in an 11-acre green campus in LA’s Exposition Park.

But it’s not only the architecture that’s turning heads. The museum’s approach to education and audience engagement has prioritized relationship-building with future visitors—especially local students and educators.

The Roundtable Approach: Listening Before Launch

Rather than designing programs in isolation, the Lucas Museum’s Learning Department developed a “Roundtable” initiative—a series of structured focus groups, listening sessions, and classroom-based engagements.

These Roundtables began with teachers. Over 20 Zoom-based focus groups brought together 122 educators to explore how a new museum could best meet their needs. A recurring challenge emerged immediately: transportation. “The number one thing educators said they needed for a field trip was a bus,” shared the team. In car-centric Los Angeles, this barrier was often insurmountable.

The second wave of sessions, focused on digital needs, revealed educators’ preferences for high-resolution images and short, modular lessons. Long-form units were simply too difficult to implement in overburdened classrooms. By listening closely, the museum learned how to make its digital offerings practical and appealing.

Educators were compensated with gift cards—a small but meaningful way to respect their time and expertise.

Taking it to the Students

In 2023, the program expanded into classrooms. Using World Café-style conversations, the museum connected with more than 1,500 students across Los Angeles—from Sylmar to San Pedro—through over 65 visits.

Younger students were introduced to the museum through read-alouds and art activities. Older students responded to prompts like, “I would visit a museum about ___, especially if I could learn ___ and ___.” Answers ranged from Taylor Swift to tacos—anecdotal, yes, but a goldmine of insight into what excites young minds.

These visits weren’t just about gathering data—they were about giving students a voice. Through colorful post-it notes, surveys, and open-ended discussions, students shared their likes, dislikes, and wishes for future museum experiences. In total, the museum collected over 6,000 post-it notes and 1,200 surveys.

Insight that Informs Design

Beyond fun facts and preferences, the data unearthed patterns in student inquiry that mirrored Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Younger students wanted to know about food and safety; older students were eager to learn about careers and internships. One takeaway? Many students said they couldn’t concentrate on museum visits because they were hungry. While feeding every visitor may be impractical, the museum is working to ensure there’s space and time for snacks and meals during field trips.

The team’s engagement efforts are also shaping policy, programming logistics, and budget decisions—offering a rare example of formative evaluation directly informing infrastructure and strategy.

Reflections from the Classroom

Teachers who participated echoed the value of being heard. Maria Vargas, a second-grade teacher, spoke of the importance of storytelling in connecting people. Mr. Rubin, an art and photography teacher, praised the museum’s accessibility and community presence. “It doesn’t make it daunting,” he said, contrasting it with more intimidating institutions. “Students love to explore, even as they get older… They like to get up close and inspect things.”

Both educators emphasized that successful museum visits must be interactive, relatable, and responsive to students’ real lives. Gift shops, tangible learning, and welcoming spaces all matter.

Tips for Other Museums

While not every museum has the luxury of multi-year pre-opening evaluation, the Lucas Museum team shared three tips that are universally useful:

Be Transparent
Let audiences know why you’re asking for input, and show them how their voices shape outcomes.

Be Flexible
Adapt your methods to different group sizes, time constraints, and community needs—sometimes on the fly.

Be Intentional
Start with clear questions, but remain open to change as you learn. Refine your tools iteratively.

As museums look to remain relevant and connected, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art offers a powerful reminder: the most innovative programs often start not with a bold idea, but with a simple question—What do you need from us?

By leaning in and listening up, they’re building a museum that reflects and responds to its community—even before a single visitor steps inside.

–

Kelly Williams, Araceli Espinoza Mead and Karina Esperanza Yánez from the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art shared their experience at the Museums & Schools Summit 2025.