In an area with a host of venerable visual-art institutions, the 3-year-old Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University was named editors’ pick as Orange County’s best art museum in OC Weekly’s 2018 Best of Orange County awards.
Editors praised the Hilbert as “a colorful, lively, occasionally even experimental space for art.” Recent exhibitions were singled out for acclaim, including “dynamic landscapes from Eyvind Earle, ‘Star Wars’ art from Lucasfilm artist Robert Bailey and film cels and preparatory drawings from various Disney animators.”
The plaudits capped off a fall in which Hilbert Museum founding donors Mark and Janet Hilbert received the annual Helena Modjeska Cultural Legacy Award in Arts Philanthropy from Arts Orange County. Previous recipients include Marybelle and S. Paul Musco, Wylie and Bette Aitken, Damien and Yvonne Jordan, and Charlie and Ling Zhang.
