Final details are being polished at the Chace Center, RISD’s soon-to-be newest addition to the campus.  The building, designed by award-winning architect Rafael Moneo, opens as the academic year gets underway in September.  The inaugural exhibition in the new Museum galleries will celebrate some of RISD’s great alums from the Glass Department, with a centerpiece installation created by Dale Chihuly (RISD MFA ‘68) noted master of the contemporary glass movement.

You’ll find a lot “new” at our Museum of Art as you begin your RISD adventure this fall. First, a fabulous gallery just opened that presents masterworks of painting, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, drawings, photographs, costume, textiles, and industrial design from 1900 to 2000, all drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection.

While design arts are often shown separately from fine arts, this exhibition weaves them together to explore how artists in all media reacted to world wars; the advent of the automobile, television, and space travel; new materials; and revised notions of what constitutes art itself.

From the antiquities of Greek and Roman culture through the contemporary works of the 20th century, your visits to the Museum will play a frequent role in your understanding of the past in the work you’ll be creating today.

Then, mark your calendar for late-September and join the party as the Chace Center opens with new Museum galleries, a student-run gallery and new studios for Foundation Studies.