The Hilbert at 10 Since opening in 2016, the Hilbert Museum has become a one-of-a-kind home for California art, inspiring Chapman students and visitors from around the world.

Step inside the Hilbert Museum of California Art, and you might find Millard Sheets’ sunlit Southern California landscapes in one gallery and Disney concept art and Hollywood studio paintings around the corner. This unexpected mix has made the Hilbert one of Chapman University’s — and one of Southern’s California’s — most distinctive cultural destinations.  

Built around the remarkable collection of Mark Hilbert and his late wife, Jan, the museum has also become part of the rhythm of campus life. Faculty bring classes through its galleries, students stop in between classes, and visitors return throughout the year for exhibitions that reveal California art in new ways.  

As the Hilbert marks its 10th anniversary this year, the museum is celebrating a decade of showcasing California art and enriching campus life with a yearlong lineup of exhibitions and programs for the Chapman community and visitors.  

“We’re really the only museum that I know of that sits at that intersection — that shows both the fine artwork of these artists and their movie work,” said Mary Platt, director of the museum. 

CALIFORNIA DREAMING  

The Hilberts began collecting California art in 1992 after becoming captivated by a wall of watercolors depicting scenes of California in a Palm Springs consignment shop. That chance encounter grew a collection — and eventually a museum — rooted in their belief that California deserved a museum of its own.  

The collection reflects a uniquely Californian story. During the mid-20th century, many artists built careers both as painters and as designers for Hollywood studios and Disney, reflecting California’s thriving creative industries, Platt said. At the Hilbert, their personal work hangs alongside the art that helped shape some of America’s best-known films.  

Today, Disney Imagineers still visit the Hilbert to study artwork created for the company. 

The Hilbert’s 2024 expansion brought the museum to 22,000 sq. ft. across 26 galleries. The collection has grown to more than 5,000 pieces, annual attendance tops 44,000, and its staff rotates 10 to 11 exhibitions at a time.  

“Our hope has always been to share these remarkable artists with as many people as possible,” said Mark Hilbert, co-founder of the Hilbert Museum. “Watching students and visitors discover California art over the past 10 years has been incredibly rewarding, and we look forward to inspiring many more in the years ahead.”  

For Chapman students, the Hilbert is more than a museum. It’s a classroom, a study space, and an invitation to slow down.  

Professors bring their classes through the galleries. Slow Art sessions ask students to sit with a single painting for 15 minutes. Poetry classes recite their works, and Chapman dance students stage pop-up performances in the galleries.  

Admission has been free to visitors since the museum opened. 

PLAYING THE HITS  

The yearlong anniversary celebration culminates with Back By Popular Demand, a “greatest hits” exhibition curated from a decade of visitor guest book comments, scheduled to open Sept. 30.  

Among the exhibition highlights is Millard Sheets’ 1930s watercolor “San Dimas Train Station,” which Mark Hilbert calls “the Mona Lisa of the Hilbert.” Lee Blair’s “Mary by the Sea” hangs nearby, depicting Blair’s future wife — who would become one of Disney’s best-known artists — with her easel set up above the Pacific.  

Next on the schedule: a folk-art weathervane show, a Dr. Seuss retrospective, and the Hilbert’s take on the 2006 movie Night at the Museum. Mark Hilbert and Platt hope the momentum pushes the museum toward its long-term goal of 100,000 annual visitors.  

A decade after opening, the Hilbert continues to fulfill its founders’ vision: preserving California’s artistic legacy while inspiring new generations of artists, scholars, students, and visitors.