A Dale Chihuly installation at RISD’s new Chace Center.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

In many ways, the 2008 fall art season can be summed up in two words: Chace Center.

Yes, the Rhode Island School of Design’s sleek new $40-million art complex on North Main Street is finally ready for its red-carpet moment. Designed by famed Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, the building, which houses a mix of studios, classrooms, offices and museum galleries, will formally open to the public on Sept. 27.

To help celebrate, the RISD Museum has organized a pair of exhibits featuring the work of prominent RISD alumni. Glass-making superstar Dale Chihuly is the focus of “Chihuly at RISD” (Sept. 27-Jan. 31), a site-specific installation composed of hundreds of the artist’s flamboyant blown-glass sculptures.

The exhibit, billed as Chihuly’s biggestever in New England, also boasts an appropriate setting: a new 6,000-square foot gallery on the Chace Center’s third floor.

Meanwhile, a smaller exhibit will highlight the work of award-winning illustrator David Macaulay. “Building Books: The Art of David Macaulay” (Sept. 27-Jan. 28) will explore Macaulay’s creative process using illustrations from Castle, Cathedral, The Way Things Work and other classics.

Just up College Hill, Brown University is hosting a major exhibit of Soviet-era graphic arts. “Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons” (through Oct. 19) features more than 150 works, ranging from World War II-era caricatures of Hitler and Churchill to posters protesting America’s involvement in Vietnam. Most of the material on display at Brown’s David Winton Bell Gallery, with smaller exhibits at the John Hay and Rockefeller libraries.

Fans of more traditional art are also in luck.

“The Elegance of Place: NRF and 40 Years of Preservation” (Sept. 20-Jan. 4) at the Newport Art Museum celebrates the legacy of another Newport institution: the National Restoration Foundation. Founded by tobacco-heiress Doris Duke, the NRF owns one of New England’s largest collections of Colonial-era furniture and decorative arts, including several outstanding pieces from Newport’s famed Townsend-Goddard furniture-making clan.

Boston-area museums are also busy this fall.

At the Museum of Fine Arts, the big news is “Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum” (Sept. 21-Jan. 4), a major exhibition of artifacts from one of the ancient world’s most vibrant cultures. Also at the MFA, “Karsh 100: a Biography in Images” (Sept. 23-Jan. 19) celebrates the work of the late celebrity photographer Yousuf Karsh.

For more cutting-edge tastes, there’s “Tara Donovan” (Oct. 10-Jan. 4) at the Institute of Contemporary Art. This is first museum-scale survey for Donovan, a young American artist who’s won rave reviews for her installations featuring everyday materials such as straws, Scotch tape and toothpicks.

bvansicl@projo.com