Chapman’s own Hilbert Museum of California Art is set to undergo renovations to expand the building and its art exhibits by early 2024, with their temporary location being housed in the heart of Old Towne Orange.

The Hilbert Museum of California Art was established in 2016 by founders Mark and Janet Hilbert and it features over 1,000 paintings and artworks, including oils, watercolors and drawings of urban scenes, coastal views, farms, ranches and landscapes of everyday life. The goal of this museum is to showcase the unique artistic and cultural development within the state of California.

Until renovations are completed, the museum and its various exhibits have been relocated to a temporary location at 216 E. Chapman Ave. in Orange. The temporary location, now known as The Hilbert Temporary, opened to the public on Dec. 10 and will follow the same hours of operation as the museum’s permanent location — Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Hilbert Museum will remain at its temporary location for approximately one year until construction is completed, according to their website. Admission to the Hilbert Temporary is free with an online reservation.

“From when we opened the museum in 2016, it was always in our plans and Chapman’s to move to a larger space, which is what we hope to accomplish with this expansion,” Hilbert Museum Director Mary Platt told The Panther. “We are doing (the renovations) now because of the great success of the museum in its first seven years, where in 2019, we drew more than 30,000 visitors. This success put us in the top tier of museums in Orange County and we hope to have even further success down the line.”

In order to continue expanding the museum, changes to the building and the surrounding areas on campus have begun and are reported to be completed by late 2023, according to Platt and Johnston Marklee, the architectural firm who is responsible for the Hilbert Museum renovations. The museum will reopen to patrons in early 2024.

“I only went to the Hilbert Museum once for an event for the Phi Beta Kappa ceremony my senior year. It was an intimate space with lovely artwork,” said Angelique Acuna, a Chapman alumna who graduated in 2022 and now works as an administrative assistant for the university’s Center for Global Education. “I was so disappointed I didn’t go more during my time as an undergrad, but I hope once the renovation takes place, both the Chapman and Orange communities will go and fully experience what the museum has to offer.”

As for Platt’s renovation plans, the current Hilbert Museum building will stay intact, but will be expanded to become the south wing of the museum, which will house four to six-month rotating/visiting exhibitions, and the north wing will be where the current Partridge Dance Center is located, which is scheduled to house the Hilbert’s permanent collection of artwork and paintings. The two buildings will be joined by an expansive courtyard, which will have a museum café as well as the main entrances to the two wings of the museum. 

Dance students who used the Partridge Dance Center will be moved to the Sandi Simon Center for Dance in the historic Villa Park Orchards packing house at 350 N. Cypress St. The new dance building will be open to students to utilize beginning early 2023.

According to Platt, the courtyard will be topped with a “floating rectangle” –– a massive open-at-the-top crowning element that visually unites the two wings –– after the renovations. On the front of the rectangle will be a 40-foot-long, 16-foot high colorful glass mosaic by California artist Millard Sheets, which was given to the museum by the owner of a former Home Savings Bank in Santa Monica that was scheduled for demolition. 

The glass mosaic showcases a California beach scene, which is made up of thousands of tiny pieces of multicolored Murano glass from Italy. As the renovations are being made, the mosaic is currently being stored in pieces and will be rebuilt and installed once the newly expanded museum is completed in late 2023. The museum will be reopened to patrons in early 2024, according to Johnston Marklee. 

“This will be the first museum anywhere that is totally dedicated to the display of California Scene and California representational art,” Mark Hilbert, the museum’s co-founder, wrote in a 2014 statement on the museum’s website. “The intent will be to cast a spotlight on this style of painting and these amazing artists, and to make this art known around the world. These paintings show the changes taking place across our state (California) as it grew, starting around 1920 — changes that are still happening and reflected in today’s representational art.”

Freshman creative writing major Mikayla Maeshiro recently went to The Hilbert with a friend to accompany them on a class assignment. She recalls quickly becoming “fully immersed in the paintings” and stated her experience as a very enjoyable one.

“I was only able to see the front half of the museum’s pieces, but it was enough to know that the Hilbert Museum does a lot of good for the community it is surrounded by,” Maeshiro said. “For the renovations, a mix of types of art could bring interest from Chapman students because many of my peers have never gone to the museum, and I fully believe they are missing out. In terms of the community, I hope these renovations open up the possibility for even more art exhibits from local California artists.”

The surge of new art museums being built is also on the rise all across Orange County. The new building of the Orange County Museum of Art opened this fall in Costa Mesa, and the University of California Irvine is also in the works of building a new art museum to house their own collection. 

“All these museums work together, where we’re creating Orange County as a destination for visual arts and performing arts lovers, and that can only be a good thing for everybody,” Platt said. “The community benefits immensely from art museums. It's not only a place to go to see art, but it can also be a refuge from the world. You have to immerse yourself in beauty and thoughtfulness, especially during difficult times.”

Exhibits at The Hilbert Temporary include an exhibition put together by Platt called “All Aboard,” which consists of 40 pieces of paintings by California artists that depict trains, train stations and people in trains. The Hilbert Collection will also be showcased at the temporary location, filled with illustrations, books and magazines given to the museum by its founders, Mark and Janet Hilbert. 

Once the permanent location reopens in early 2024, there will be special exhibits on display to celebrate the new expansion. Some of these exhibitions will include the Mary Blair exhibit and the Millard Sheets exhibit, “A Matter of Style”, which is a collection of artwork that showcases the emergence of California art abstraction. A showcase of works by Emigdio Vasquez, a local Latinx muralist and artist from Orange, will also be an exhibition at the permanent location.

“The Hilbert Museum is a place that I like to go to because of how peaceful and calming the atmosphere is,” junior business administration major Jessica Miyasato told The Panther. “From the renovations that are currently in the works, I would love to see more art exhibits be made and perhaps a café or small food area for people to enjoy.”

 Senior graphic design major Gabriella Stein-Sigal believes that the museum will benefit the Chapman and Orange community, “because it showcases Californian art, artists and history,” especially since these works are unique and give a voice to a plethora of well-known and less-known local artists.

“I don't know much about the renovations that are happening, but I would hope that the museum was growing in size,” said Stein-Sigal, who visited the museum with one of her classes a little over a year ago. “When we visited, it felt small and like there wasn't enough space to fully enjoy the art that was there. I believe the increase of art exposure is always beneficial to the community. People can always gain a lot from visiting museums.”