» The Hilbert Museum of California Art

167 N. Atchison Street, Orange, CA 92866

Located across the street from the Orange Metrolink Train Station

Open Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

TEL: 714-516-5880

EMAIL: hilbertmuseum@chapman.edu

Directions:

From the North:

-Take 5 Freeway SOUTH

-Exit onto 22 Freeway EAST, Orange

-Take 22 Freeway EAST to Glassell St. Exit

-Exit on Glassell St., turn NORTH (left off the freeway exit ramp)

-Take Glassell St. NORTH to Chapman Avenue WEST (3rd exit off traffic circle)

-Take Chapman Avenue WEST to Atchison Street (right turn just before the railroad tracks)

-You’ll see Ruby’s Diner on your left. The Hilbert Museum is directly across Atchison from Ruby’s, on the right.

-Park in front of the Museum. Parking is free, but you must pick up a University parking pass inside the Museum and place it on your dashboard.

 

From the South:

-Take 5 Freeway NORTH

-Exit onto 55 Freeway NORTH

-Take 55 Freeway NORTH to Chapman Avenue Orange

-Turn WEST on Chapman Avenue (right off the freeway exit ramp)

-Take Chapman Avenue WEST to traffic circle (Glassell St.)

-Exit the second exit of the traffic circle (which will continue your drive on Chapman Avenue WEST)

-Take Chapman Avenue WEST to Atchison Street (right turn just before the railroad tracks)

-You’ll see Ruby’s Diner on your left. The Hilbert Museum is directly across Atchison from Ruby’s, on the right.

-Park in front of the Museum. Parking is free, but you must pick up a University parking pass inside the Museum and place it on your dashboard.

The California Scene movement is a visual journey through California history: the transformation of California from a wild, untamed Western landscape of rolling hills and vast empty coastlines into an urban industrial panorama, dotted with skyscrapers and New Deal mural projects, and finally into its modern economy based on entertainment, agriculture, international trade, Silicon Valley industries and tourism. California Scene painting, spanning the 20th century, has always been about depicting and embracing new developments in culture and lifestyle. Today, it affirms an emotional connection between the California landscape and its inhabitants, as it tells the stories of everyday people in a changing world.

Narrative Visions

20th Century California Art 

from The Hilbert Collection

Art can serve as a window to the past. This is particularly true for narrative paintings that tell a story or capture a scene of everyday life. Through the years, a large number of California artists have shared this vision of producing narrative art. 

The collection assembled by Mark and Janet Hilbert focuses on California art, specifically, works that capture  important historical and cultural scenes relating to California. The Hilbert Collection includes art from nearly all periods of the twentieth century, but primarily features works created by the most innovative California Scene painters from the 1930s to 1970s.