The Chihuly installation will fill the largest gallery, a plum-colored, S-shaped, 4,000-square-foot space on the third floor with striking views of downtown Providence through floor-to-ceiling windows. In addition, nearly 200 of Dale Chihuly's signature charcoal process drawings spread across a 50-foot-long wall will offer a peek into the mind of the artist.
The Chace Center, which the school calls "a new front door to RISD," is a bold and stunningly executed addition to the college's Museum of Art. The challenge for José Rafael Moneo, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect and Harvard faculty member, was to design a modern structure on a site bordered on three sides by historical buildings. The resulting 43,000-square-foot structure, clad in glass and brick, not only welcomes visitors to the college, but also opens invitingly onto Market Square and downtown.
One of the world's preeminent glass artists, Chihuly earned a master's degree in fine arts at RISD in 1968 from the ceramics department and helped build a glass department there.
"I spent such a long time at RISD, including a lot of time in the museum, and I still know a lot of people in Providence," Chihuly said. "All that made me want to return and do something there."
A companion exhibit to the Chihuly installation, "Studio Glass in Rhode Island: The Chihuly Years," will feature works by nine groundbreaking artists who were students of Chihuly when he taught at RISD.
Also on view are "Building Books: The Art of David Macaulay," which aims to illuminate the artist's creative process through examples of original art from his books, and "After You're Gone," an installation by Beth Lipman, a glass artist.
