Words and images on a page or screen can evoke or suggest only so much about any building. The ultimate proof is in the experience of visiting or inhabiting. In this regard, the Chace wins with wonder. As with any museum, windows are scarce to protect exhibits from — in this context — the corrosive effects of sunlight. The windows of the Chace are ingeniously situated in such a way as to capture, perhaps even enhance, the essence of the surrounding cityscape.
For museum goers and the RISD community, Providence is captured and displayed. The city that plays host to the Chace becomes part of a permanent exhibit to those inside the building. Thus does RISD’s Chace Center pay tribute to Providence: by engaging the city according to Moneo’s vision.
Related:
RISD redefined, Mortification of the flesh, Providence Fall Preview Listings 2009, More 
- RISD redefined
Rhode Island School of Design’s new Chace Center is the physical embodiment of the 131-year-old institution’s effort to rebrand itself as a more open place.
- Mortification of the flesh
“Global Feminisms” at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum could be one of the most important exhibits of the year.
- Providence Fall Preview Listings 2009
A page of listings for local music, theater, art, festivals and more this fall.
- Narrative truth
For the majority of us Americans, Iraq and Afghanistan are a series of news-data points — number of Americans killed today, number of car bombs, spending tallies, estimates of civilian deaths.
- Tempo tantrum
In 2008, the fourth dimension, time, steps to the fore in the art world.
- Gods and monsters — and David Hasselhoff
The Museum of Fine Arts did big things with Napoleon and Edward Hopper, pictures of prostitutes graced the walls of Boston’s two biggest art museums, and all hell broke loose when the Mooninites invaded.
- Must warn others
It’s a cliché of bad novels and late-night movies that scientists and artists represent two extreme — and mutually exclusive — poles of objectivity and subjectivity.
- The artists’ view
Recently I was chatting with a local painter, whom I’ll call Picasso Menino, about Boston’s new Institute of Contemporary Art. Slideshow: Architectural images from the new ICA Bold steps: The new ICA sets the agenda for Fan Pier. By David Eisen.
- Hand made
Eight years after Loïs Mailou Jones’s death, School of the Museum of Fine Arts curator Joanna Soltan is proclaiming her to be “among the most significant African-American artists of the 20th century.”
- Utopia station
The grimy surfaces of walls, sidewalks, and utility poles in neighborhoods of San Juan have replaced canvas as a medium for Puerto Rican artist Rafael Trelles.
- Across the Universe
Intuition tells us that certain places are powerful, that certain spaces are sacred, and that we are sometimes in the presence of cosmic energy.
- Less
Topics:
News Features
, Cultural Institutions and Parks, Museums, Museum of Fine Arts, More
, Cultural Institutions and Parks, Museums, Museum of Fine Arts, Institute for Contemporary Art, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Norman Foster, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Rafael Moneo, Chace Center, Less
