meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

The long-awaited Chace Center at RISD opens to the public today, adding 43,000 square feet of sophisticated, mixed-use space to bridge key areas of the diverse campus with the public arena of Providence's Market Square.

Above: Chace Center - Courtesy of the RISD Museum / Photo by Erik Gould

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect José Rafael Moneo, the sleek, five-story facility offers the community much-needed programming and educational space, to be shared by the RISD Museum, risd|works, The Minskoff Center for Prints, Drawings and Photographs, the new Gelman Student and Dryfoos Student Media Galleries, and expanded RISD office, studio and classroom facilities. The new Metcalf Auditorium on the ground floor offers additional presentation and event space to RISD and the greater Providence community.

Above: Dale Chihuly, "Persian Ceiling", 2008. Photo by Meredith Cutler

Grand Opening celebrations are free and open to the public today, with a hospitality tent set up across the street from the new main lobby entrance at 20 North Main Street. There, timed tickets for the inaugural exhibition: Chihuly at RISD, can be picked up until 5:30pm, when the tent will be transformed into a public tapas lounge for the enjoyment of the Waterfire crowd.

Above: Dale Chihuly, "Glass Forest #4", 2008. Photo by Meredith Cutler

I'll be reviewing Chihuly at RISD, as well as outlining the features and impact of the new Chace Center in the upcoming year-end issue of Artscope Magazine. For today, (and I anticipate for some time to come) this architectural centerpiece is the talk of the town, so grab your umbrella and check it out!

Chace Center at Rhode Island School of Design: 20 Main Street, Providence, RI 02903