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Hisako Hibi née Shimizu (1907-1991) was a Japanese American artist in Hayward and San Francisco, California. She was married to artist Matsusaburo "George" Hibi (1886-1947), who was one of the founders of the East West Art Society. Both artists were active members of the San Francisco Bay Area arts community. The two met at the California School of Fine Arts (renamed the San Francisco Art Institute, which closed in 2022) and married in 1930. They had two children, Satoshi and Ibuki. Both Hisako and Matsusaburo George exhibited their paintings widely. Matsusaburo George taught and worked at the California School of Fine Arts until 1933 and then he and Hisako moved to Hayward, California where he established a Japanese-language and art school. Hisako also painted and participated in group shows at state fairs, galleries, and also the 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island.
In 1942, the entire Hibi family was forcibly removed and incarcerated at the Tanforan Assembly Center in California and subsequently the Topaz Relocation Center in Utah where they remained until the end of World War II. At Tanforan, Matsusaburo Hibi co-founded an art school with fellow artist Chiura Obata for the other incarcerees in the camp and this school was re-established at Topaz. Hisako also taught at the Topaz Art School.
After the war, the family moved to New York City, where Matsusaburo George passed away in 1947. Hisako worked as a seamstress at a garment factory in order to support herself and her two children. During this time, she studied painting at the Museum of Modern Art once a week. In 1954, Hisako and her daughter Ibuki returned to San Francisco where she continued to work as a seamstress for a time. She later became a live-in housekeeper to the artist and poet Helen Salz. Hisako continued to exhibit frequently in group and solo shows. She was a member of the Asian American Women Artists Association and San Francisco Women Artists. She passed away in 1991.
