PHILANTHROPIST, FOUNDER HILBERT PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
WHY: Hilbert, a Newport Beach real estate owner and manager, and his wife, Janet, a former community college professor, began museum on Chapman University to showcase couple’s personal collection of over 3,000 California scene paintings, works of movie and animation art, and American illustration, a trove valued at about $10M.
IN THE NEWS: Couple spending $12M to triple museum’s size to 22,000 square feet by 2024. NOTABLE: OC500 art comes from the Hilbert collection.
QUOTABLE: “Our quest is to become one of the leading university-based art museums in the nation.”