Janet “Jan” Hilbert — whose passion for artwork that told meaningful stories about the Golden State and its denizens inspired her and husband Mark to establish Chapman University’s Hilbert Museum of California Art — died Saturday in Newport Beach following a prolonged illness.
News of her passing, at age 83, was shared Tuesday in a release issued by Chapman University President Daniele C. Struppa, who recalled her generosity and dedication to fostering creativity and learning.
“Beyond her professional achievements, Jan was known for her effervescent aura, which could be felt whenever she entered a room,” Struppa said. “[Her] warmth, generosity and unwavering commitment to the values she held dear will always remain inspiring and uplifting to us all.”
Mark and Janet Hilbert established the Hilbert Museum of California Art in 2014 with the donation of $3 million and art valued at more than $7 million.
(Courtesy of Hilbert Museum at Chapman University)
Born in North Dakota on March 24, 1941, Jan moved to the Los Angeles area as a child before settling in Newport Beach. In addition to teaching business courses at Santa Ana College for 35 years, she also taught at Redondo Union High School, according to a forthcoming biography of the Hilberts by Liz Goldner.
She recalled meeting the man who would become her husband, Mark Hilbert, completely by happenstance while she was rollerblading on Balboa Peninsula in 1991. As he drove by in a 1947 Packard, he caught her eye.
“My friend recognized him and waved him down, as he also had a Packard,” she recounted to her biographer. “There we were on a February morning, not expecting a new life to begin. But a bell went off and so did we.”
The pair became close, purchasing a home in Palm Springs in 1992. Cash strapped and looking to decorate the residence in original art, the couple chanced upon a watercolor painting at a local consignment shop. It would be a fateful moment, Hilbert Museum director Mary Platt recalled Tuesday.
“They loved that so much, they came back the next day and bought some more,” Platt said. “Then they started educating themselves about what that type of art was.”
Bradford J. Salamon’s “Disneyland Vintage 1960” is an example of a California Scene painting on display at Chapman University’s Hilbert Museum of California Art.
(Courtesy of the Hilbert Museum)
Referred to as California Scene paintings, the core works in the couple’s collection date back to the 1920s, depicting subjects engaging in everyday activities in a particular landscape or venue.
That collection today comprises more than 3,000 watercolors, oil paintings and prints along with major animation and movie production art, American illustrations and Native American artifacts.
Hoping to share their love and vision of narrative art with a wider audience, particularly students, the Hilberts in 2014 donated $3 million to Chapman University, along with 240 artworks valued at more than $7 million, allowing the Orange campus to open its first museum two years later.
This February, the Hilberts celebrated with museum officials the opening of a 22,000-square-foot expansion that tripled the original footprint and features 26 galleries, a cafe, community room for lectures and classes and a research library.
Janet Hilbert, third from left, with Chapman University officials at a Hilbert Museum expansion groundbreaking in Feb. 2023.
(Courtesy of Hilbert Museum at Chapman University)
Although she’d been battling an illness for some time, Jan rallied for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility, speaking to those assembled. Platt said an outdoor space in the new complex has been named the Janet Hilbert Arts Courtyard.
“There’s a beautiful oak tree in the middle,” she said Tuesday. “I think of that representing how long lasting her vision, and [Mark’s] vision, is for the museum. That will be ever-growing, just like this oak tree.”
Jan Hilbert is survived by her husband, Mark, their children and grandchildren. A private memorial service is being planned by her family, but Platt said talks are in the works for a more public celebration of life, likely sometime in the spring.
An expansion of Chapman University’s Hilbert Museum of California Art, completed in 2024, included creation of a Janet Hilbert Arts Courtyard.
(Eric Staudenmaier)