The spaciously reimagined new home of one of the world’s largest collections of California narrative art officially opened to the public on Friday, Feb. 23.
The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University, founded and funded through the ongoing generosity of art patrons and philanthropists Mark and Janet Hilbert, has undergone an ambitious three-year project to expand from 7,000 to 22,000 sq. ft. on the same site it has occupied in Orange, Calif. since opening in 2016.
“Chapman University, central Orange County and Southern California have a glorious new home for California narrative art that is as rich, expansive and artistically accessible as the art inside,” said Mark Hilbert, who with his wife gifted the couple’s extensive collection to Chapman to make it available for public view.
The new two-building venue offers 26 galleries for rotating displays of the more than 5,000 oils, watercolors and drawings depicting everyday California life in the growing Hilbert Collection. The museum also has a café, research library and community room for lectures, classes and events. An outdoor courtyard creates a new gateway to Old Towne Orange and Chapman University, said Collette Creppell, Chapman’s vice president of campus planning and design.
Visitors can now view an opening slate of eight exhibitions showcasing the museum’s commitment to California Scene narrative art from the 1930s to the present, plus its rich holdings in animation and movie art, and American illustration and design.
Among the opening shows are those honoring Norman Rockwell, Millard Sheets, Disney’s Mary Blair and local Chicano artist Emigidio Vasquez as well as vintage radios, and examples of California modernism.
“This spectacular new expansion is a dream come true – the building itself is an eye-catching piece of art that provides a visual welcome,” said Museum Director Mary Platt, who personally curated some of the exhibitions. “We have a dynamic array of extraordinary exhibitions to open with, showing off many of the varied facets of The Hilbert Collection. The Hilbert Collection is unique in that it is one of the few to specialize in narrative art – or art that tells a story, which in our case is focused on California. Because of this, we wanted a museum building that embraces the visitor and entices them to explore the history and culture of the Golden State as seen through the painters, illustrators, animators and other artists who have long been drawn here.”
Designed by architecture firm Johnston Marklee, the museum stands in an industrial corridor within the Cypress Street Barrio historic district and the design pays tribute to local Orange industrial and mercantile architecture.
“The visitor experience begins outside with the Millard Sheets mosaic, framing a civic space that links the Chapman University campus to the city of Orange,” said Sharon Johnston of the firm.
To learn more and make a reservation, visit hilbertmuseum.org.
