The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, will give residents of its South Los Angeles community free access ahead of the institution’s opening on Sept. 22.

Residents who live in the museum’s 90037 zip code can visit the galleries at no cost with the new LM37 pass. Community members will also be able to visit the museum early at a special Community Preview Day on Sept. 13.

“We’re very aware that as exciting as the project is, we’ve been here eight years building down in South Central and in Exposition Park,” museum CEO Tracey Bates told me Thursday morning. “We wanted to make sure our direct neighbors had access all the time to be part of our true community, to be part of the museum membership in a way, and to be the first to get the previews for something that we’ve been building in their neighborhood for the last eight years.”

Residents interested in registering for the pass can sign up at the museum’s website to be notified when the program launches in August. Pass holders can reserve free tickets for themselves and one guest.

The Community Preview Day will give community partners, local business owners and civic leaders an advance look at the museum. The campus features 100,000 square feet of exhibitions, gardens designed by Mia Lehrer and Studio-MLA and the building itself designed by Ma Yansong of MAD.

“The museum’s 1,300 items on initial display are themed around binding communities together and how narrative art and visual storytelling has done that over centuries,” Bates said. “We really want them to come in and feel engaged, but also find their own journey in here. We won’t be dictating to anybody how to think or how to feel. George has done an amazing job at curating a way for everybody to feel a sense of comfort in here.

“I think it’s going to be an amazing first step for some people, especially in South Central, to not feel overwhelmed and really just hope they discover artists they didn’t know or some that they did and see a new way of understanding them,” she continued.

Tickets will be available through community partners and local government officials, as well as directly to LM37 passholders.

“We’re very excited to be part of everything that’s happening in L.A. right now,” Bates said. “It feels like a perfect time to be joining the cultural landscape.”