George Lucas donates $1.5 million to Norman Rockwell Museum

Filmmaker and “Star Wars” creatorGeorge Lucas is supporting another kind of art with a $1.5 million donation toStockbridge’s Norman Rockwell Museum.

The Western Massachusetts museum announced that the grant from the George Lucas Family Foundation will help fund digital learning initiatives.

With the grant, the museum will create multimedia experiences for visitors such as a digital gallery tour, a new K-12 curriculum and an online collection of podcasts, interviews and lectures.

“This is a truly transformational grant,” said Laurie Norton Moffatt, director and CEO of the museum, in a news release.“We are deeply grateful to George Lucas for supporting our commitment to students, teachers, and life-long learners everywhere, connecting them with Norman Rockwell’s legacy in new and compelling ways.”

Lucas is an avid collector of Rockwell’s art, according to the museum.

“It was Norman Rockwell’s wish that his collection be used to educate and engage the broadest of audiences,” NortonMoffatt said. “This latest support from the George Lucas Family Foundation brings us that much closer to achieving his wish.”

Rockwell moved with his family to Stockbridge in 1953 and lived out his last 25 years there. The museum opened in 1969.