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Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Hilbert Museum partners with Pageant of the Masters to tell a story of California art
When Diane Challis Davy, director of the Pageant of the Masters, was first invited to tour the Hilbert Museum of California Art in Orange last year, she was struck by the many images she knew would be a fit for Laguna Beach's famed living picture show. Mark Hilbert, who co-founded the museum with his late wife Janet, walked Challis Davy through the museum personally and sent her home with art books to look through. She came across a painting in one of those books that she knew had to be included in the Pageant. 'Mark gave me some of his beautiful books and I took them home and right away, I knew that 'Monday at the Crab Cooker' was perfect for a Pageant tableau,' said Challis Davy. The work by local artist Bradford J. Salamon depicted three men having dinner at the iconic Newport Beach restaurant. Challis Davy knew the scene inside the popular seafood eatery fit well with the 2025 Pageant of the Masters theme, 'Gold Coast: Treasures of California,' which is intended to be a tour of some of the most notable works of art on view at California's coastal museums. Unbeknownst to Challis Davy, she had just selected a piece that documents the beginnings of the Hilbert Museum itself. 'I chose it before Bradford told me he is [one of the men] in the picture, Mr. Hilbert is painted in the picture and Gordon McClelland is in the picture,' said Challis Davy. On Monday nights the three art lovers would get together over a fish dinner and discuss the idea of opening a museum that could display the collection amassed by Mark Hilbert and his late wife, Janet. 'We would just get together and talk about art until we were deaf,' Hilbert said. The meeting of the minds was the first imagining of the Hilbert Museum as it stands today and Salamon said he recognized history was being made. 'I felt privileged to be watching the soup being made with Mark and Gordon and the idea of a museum,' said Salamon. 'As we kept going every Monday and talking, I realized I was really dealing with people who could pull this off, I was dealing with a visionary who is going to do this; and I thought I should document it.' Salamon joined Challis Davy, Hilbert and Hilbert Museum director Mary Platt on the evening of June 4 in a panel discussion at the museum discussing the painting and other works selected from the Hilbert Collection that will be featured in this year's pageant. The Pageant of the Masters has been a tradition at Laguna Beach's Festival of Arts since 1932, when a few living pictures were presented as the 'Spirit of the Masters Pageant.' 'It grew over the years,' said Challis Davy. 'Thanks to a fellow by the name of Roy Ropp, who was a builder in town and a painter. He is considered the father of the pageant because he gave us our name, Pageant of the Masters.' Ropp used his expertise to add painted backdrops on a larger stage and incorporated music and narration in the show. He is also responsible for introducing 'The Last Supper,' as the finale, a tradition that continues today. Each year the show follows at theme, such as last year's 'À La Mode: The Art of Fashion,' which put the spotlight on popular styles of dress in various periods. Challis Davy works closely with her team to find the right works of art to present that best represent the theme. 'Proportion of overall canvas to figure is very important to us and how the figures are aligned,' said Challis Davy. 'We are going to take this two dimensional painting and we are going to turn it back into 3D, so it's all about the proportions.' Challis Davy said she also keeps an eye out for works with meaningful narratives, something the Hilbert Museum prides itself on. 'We specialize in what we call California narrative art, which is art that tells a story, ' Platt said of the Hilbert. 'You can also call it representational art or figurative art. It certainly has people in it, or the work of people. You might see a boat, or a pier or ranch or road.' In addition to 'Monday at the Crab Cooker,' the pageant has also selected Phil Dike's 'Afternoon at Diver's Cove,' Lee Blair's 'Mary by the Sea,' and another of Salamon's oil works, 'Seal Beach Nighthawks,' which depicts a cold night at a seaside corn dog shack. The Millard Sheets mosaic 'Pleasures Along the Beach,' which is the crown jewel of the expanded Hilbert Museum and was relocated from a Home Savings & Loan building in Santa Monica, will also be featured in the pageant along with a third Salamon painting, commissioned by the pageant. Since the segment on Salamon will include the Crab Cooker and the corn dog stand, Davy was hoping to include a third work that depicted a restaurant or bar. 'I thought there is got to be a third one and I look and looked and I couldn't find one that was suitable for our stage, so I thought 'OK, let's take a leap of faith and let's commission an artwork' and that painting is now in the Festival of Arts' permanent collection.' Salamon was given a choice of painting the landmark Sandpiper lounge in Laguna Beach — affectionately called the 'Dirty Bird' by locals — the Swallows Inn or the Marine Room Tavern on Ocean Avenue in Downtown Laguna Beach. The artist went with the Marine Room, painting a scene of patrons at the bar and in front of the fireplace. 'I put different little Easter eggs in there regarding art history; on the far left there is 'Folies-Bergère' by Monet, there is Winslow Homer's 'Breezing Up,' which they have done at the pageant for many years,' Salamon pointed during the panel discussion. There is also a small cat peeking out from behind a bar stool, a reference to the 'McSorley's Cats' by John Sloan, and a balloon dog on one patron's hat, a nod to Jeff Koons. 'These were all little things that I thought would be fun to put in,' Salamon said. Mark Hilbert will also get in on the fun this summer, joining the cast of volunteers at the pageant on 'Hilbert Museum Night at the Pageant' on July 9 to play himself in the 'Monday at the Crab Cooker' painting. 'We are not going to ask him to shave for this but he will have to be subjected to the make up application process,' Davy said. The 2025 Pageant of the Masters opens July 5 and recipients of the Hilbert Museum e-newsletter will receive a 20% ticket discount. For more information on the 2025 Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters, visit For details on the Hilbert Museum exhibitions and the five works selected from the Hilbert Museum collection go to
Los Angeles Times
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Hilberts honored with legacy bronze bust unveiled at the art musuem that carries their name
The shared legacy of Mark Hilbert and his late wife, Janet, is now officially set in bronze. The likeness of the longtime Newport Beach residents and founders of the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University in Orange is captured in a bronze bust created by sculptor Juan Rosillo to preside over the 22,000-square-foot space housing the 5,000 piece Hilbert Collection. The bust was unveiled by Chapman University President Daniele C. Struppa and Mark Hilbert this week during a ceremony and lunch with Chapman leadership, museum donors, staff, family and friends. With Janet, who passed away in December, Mark established the museum in 2016 through a gift of artwork and funds to Chapman. Last year, the museum reopened after undergoing a three-year expansion project that tripled the museum's footprint. 'It was always our vision to be able to show more of our Hilbert Collection to the public and create more lifelong fans of California art,' Mark said in a statement. 'We're grateful to Chapman University for giving us this platform, and for helping make our dream come true. With this latest unveiling at the Hilbert Museum, Janet and I can remain here in spirit indefinitely to meet the next generation of California narrative artists, scene painters and other visionaries committed to capturing the wonders of the Golden State. My only regret is that my beloved Jan is not here to see and enjoy this.' In addition to housing what is considered to be one of the largest troves of California narrative art, the Hilbert Museum also features private collections of Disney and other animation art, works by American illustrators, Native American arts and American design. The Hilbert legacy bronze is set in the lobby of the museum's North Building.
Los Angeles Times
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Hilbert Museum celebrates anniversary with art talks, lectures
Pete the Panther, Chapman University's official mascot, prowled the halls of the Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University in Orange, making a special appearance for the museum's anniversary. Art lovers posed for pictures with the big cat who sported a jersey in Chapman red and Panther black. Pete's visit was among the activities that took place at Hilbert Museum's anniversary event on Feb. 22, marking nine years since the museum officially opened and its first year in an expanded 22,000-square-foot, two-building exhibition and educational complex. Guests enjoyed talks and cupcakes with other art lovers and artists at Saturday's all-day event. Founded by art collectors and philanthropists Mark and Janet Hilbert, the Hilbert Museum opened in 2016 and is home to one of the world's largest collections of California narrative art. The museum was made possible by a major gift the Hilbert's gave to Chapman University in 2014. In February 2024, the museum reopened after undergoing a three-year expansion that tripled its size. 'We hope to continue to foster art and artists in this community, and we would like to see this area become an arts district,' Mark Hilbert told TimesOC in October 2023, when the museum was still under construction for the expansion. Since opening nine years ago, the Hilbert Museum has hosted 250,000 visitors and shown 70 separate shows. 'We are beyond grateful to our old and new fans in Orange County and beyond who have made us one of the fastest-growing art museums in Southern California,' Hilbert Museum director Mary Platt said in a statement. 'But, as impressive as our first nine years have been, 2024's expansion accelerated visits by locals and visitors wanting to experience works by California artists or that capture the essence of the Golden State.' The museum complex houses the Hilbert's collection of more than 5,000 pieces that chronicle California history from the 1900s to today through the work of California scene artists, Hollywood studio artists and animators. Besides the Hilbert collection, the space has dedicated galleries to rotating exhibitions that feature local artists, like 'Going Places,' a solo exhibition of modern master painter Timothy J. Clark. Additionally, the building's facade displays the restored Millard Sheets mosaic, 'Pleasures Along the Beach,' relocated from a flagship Home Savings & Loan building in Santa Monica. During the afternoon, the Citrus Labels Society, a California-based club that connects collectors of vintage citrus labels, gathered in the Burra Community Room to discuss 'Picturing Paradise: California Orange Box Labels,' a current exhibition at the museum curated by orange crate-label expert Gordon McClelland. The group shared its passion for orange-crate label collecting. The labels were used to illustrated Southern California's bounty and sell oranges, but they also created an image of California orange groves that persists today. In the evening, renowned Southern California portrait artist Bradford Salamon led a talk on the nuances of portrait painting. Mark Hilbert, who often refers to the complex as a storytelling museum, was on hand on throughout the day to walk visitors through the museum. Hilbert leading tours is a common sight, and the museum estimates that Hilbert, along with Platt, have led nearly 350 personal tours, some scheduled but many impromptu, since the museum opened. On Feb. 27, Hilbert will host a talk titled: 'My Collecting Life' in the Burra Community Room at 6 p.m. The informal talk will include personal stories on how he began collecting California scene paintings, original movie art and antique radios. While the museum is proud of what it has accomplished over the past nine years, Platt assures local art lovers the museum has even more surprises in store, as it looks ahead to its 10-year anniversary. 'We expect an even brighter future as we get ready to celebrate our first decade,' said Platt.
