Frankie and Johnny at Gamm: Passion and confusion in the moonlight

Is it true love or a rewarding romp in the sack? You’ll go back and forth for two hours trying to decide in “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.”  Photo by Cat Laine What’s undisputed...

Thank You to our Patreon Members!

Support SocietyJennifer JolicoeurAmato A DeLucaPaul Rochford You’re On a Lobstah ROLL TierDon RhodesSI RosenbaumDaria Phoebe BrashearJeannine PetersonAlex You’re a Weiner TierHannah ChasonSarah SummersMary Paolino You’re Not So Awful Awful TierVincent FugereMadiganSeeDubs And THANK YOU to our anonymous donors! PATREON ...

Dear Creativity Lovers: “Treat yo self” to a Gift

It’s that time of the year to “Treat yo self” — a line from one of my favorite shows, “Parks & Recreation.” Like Tom and Donna, don’t just buy gifts for others: Reward yourself this...

Give Local Art as a Gift

Do you hate the hustle and bustle at the stores around December? Do you resort to asking Google what to get for a gift? Instead, read about local artists and look for the perfect gift...

ON THE COVER: Daniel Smelansky

“I’ve leveled up,” illustrator Daniel Smelansky of Providence says with a chuckle of his latest gig: creating the cover of Motif’s Gift Guide. That’s because he made a word-and-image collage about the lack of nonbinary...

BTS with DMK: Behind The Scenes with filmmaker Kristen Falso-Capaldi

If you haven’t noticed yet, Rhode Island is bursting with endless creative energy. Providence has named itself the Creative Capital and is the home of the Rhode Island School of Design, WaterFire, and PVDFest --...

RISE Medical & Recreational Cannabis Dispensary Warwick: Where regulars feel at home 

While built for quick, seamless visits, this dispensary does it without losing its sense of community. What used to be known as Agaves Mexican Grill on Jefferson Boulevard has now become a community-driven dispensary for medicinal...

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME FOR A BEER!

Does the holiday season stress you out? Are you doing last minute shopping? No one needs a coffee mug, crappy smelling candles or a pot holder from a discount dollar store. It is not the...

The Gift of Pedals

Guitarists love their gadgets. A quick look at most pedalboards will show the time that they put into fine-tuning their sound to get the coveted perfect tone. As a drummer that does nothing more than...

Subterranean Jungle

Consuelo's Revenge. Photo by Asim Barakzai Consuelo’s Revenge – Bread & Circuses A lot has gone down in the 10 years since the last Consuelo’s Revenge album, Mercy, to say the least. The world didn’t end although...

Roots Report

Adam Sherman Okee dokee folks… This issue is the Motif Gift Guide. If you have read this column for any of the past twenty years, you surely know that I don’t do Christmas but I WILL...

2 Feet 2 Bucks to Bristol

The fall colors linger longest near the sea.  When you hear, “Let’s take a hike,” you probably picture an uninhabited area. There’s nothing like a walk in the woods, the more unspoiled the better. The landscape...

Outside the Gift Box: The gift of experience teaches us to gift experiences.

Over the years we’ve all accumulated stuff, material goods (and bads) that engulf the homestead, sometimes overwhelming the dwellers. Some of us do not know how to declutter and reorganize. Things just pile up over...

Solar Aurora Possible Tue Night: Flares and CME may cause G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm

At Providence, solar aurora may be visible overnight Tue into Wed and, to a lesser extent, Wed into Thu. Aurora is unusual at latitudes this far south, but it typically happens a few times every...

Full SNAP Benefits Must be Paid by Fri, Nov 7, Court Orders: Judge seems incredulous that partial payments resulted in delays; government appeals

Michael Bilow of Motif attended the 3:30pm court hearing and is reporting based on his personal observations. At a hearing in US District Court in Providence on the afternoon of Thu, Nov 6, Judge John J....

SNAP Benefits Must Be Paid, PVD Federal Court Rules: Contingency funds must be used despite government objections

Michael Bilow of Motif attended the 1:00pm court hearing and is reporting based on his personal observations. In a case with national significance and effect, Judge John J. McConnell Jr of the US District Court in...

SNAP (Food Stamps) Emergency: RI announces support during federal shutdown

RI SNAP support poster (Source: https://dhs.ri.gov/programs-and-services/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/supplemental-nutrition-hold ) The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known by its old name, “food stamps,” is funded primarily by the federal government but run by state governments. The money ordinarily placed...

2025 Food Truck Awards Winners

This year’s RI Food Truck & Drink Awards managed to dodge the rain clouds and have a beautiful night by the Pedestrian Bridge, in lovely, view-encrusted District Park in the Guild Garden.  We detailed the victorious...

Roots Report

Okee dokee folks… So, I am EXTREMELY angry. This disastrous regime has been assaulting immigrants as well as US citizens and making some disappear. That in itself is disgusting and enraging, as we are a...

Local Indigenous Artists and Crafters

My great, great grandmother was a Ramapough Lenape Indian and one of the only ancestors we have a picture of from that long ago, around the late 1800s. While we may only have an image...

Local Indigenous Author Spotlight: Vanessa Lillie

“What’s that saying, ‘We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams’?” (Quote from Blood Sisters by: Vanessa Lillie.)  Vanessa Lillie is a best selling author, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and lives on Narragansett land in RI. Her...

STRANDED WHALES: RITUAL AND RECKONING

When a whale dies, sometimes the ocean delivers it back to us. Whether it drifts ashore in a quiet cove or crashes onto a crowded beach, its body becomes a stage upon which humans project...

DREAMING

As the Museum Coordinator for the Wampanoag History Museum at the Aquinnah Cultural Center,  I have the responsibility of making sure that the belongings in our collection are properly cared for. This work can be...

Between Land and Law: An Exploration of Tribal Identity and Sovereignty

When I set out to curate this collection of writing on “sovereignty,” I knew it was a mammoth to explore. Among original peoples of the Northeast, the word – the idea  – is layered with...

ON THE COVER: Ella Mahoney

In creating the cover of Motif’s Indigenous Peoples Month issue, artist and visual arts teacher Ella Mahoney took her inspiration from her birthplace, Aquinnah, in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. “Every year, the members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag...

Motif 2025 Drink Awards Winners

On September 9, Motif celebrated the 9th annual RI Food Truck and 4th RI Brewery Awards! No one died, some pink monsters came out to dance, and the sun set on an overall good time...

ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART TWO: PERESTROIKA

Silence = Death Under Brian McEleney’s direction, the much-anticipated Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika, wowed audiences just as much as part 1, Millennium Approaches. This continuation revisits the lives of its beloved, memorable characters as...

Roots Report

Okee dokee folks… Parking. That is what is on my mind today. In my opinion, if a venue – or any business for that matter – does not take easy parking access into consideration as...

Building a Community, One Drip at a Time: New Harvest Coffee & Spirits

I don’t think I will ever drink iced coffee. Ever. And I feel very confident about that. It’s not that I’m anti-cold coffee — if that’s your jam, I won’t judge — but my heart...

It’s The Season of The Witch: Now streaming on a service near you 

Let’s start with the basics here. We all know the commercialized image of a witch on a broomstick, flying around on a full moon with her black cat. But what if I told you witchcraft...

Stuff to Do