Setting Boundaries: Is her friend trainable? Or is it time to run?
Dear C and Dr. B; Jim and I became friends six years ago, when I was three weeks from a deadline and my partner on the project ended up in […]
Events:
The Flower, The Labor, and The Sea
September 27, 2025 - June 28, 2026
New Restrictions Start Sunday: A summary of the governor’s November 5 press conference
Governor Raimondo, DOH director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor and DEM director Janet Coit gave the weekly COVID press briefing today at 1pm. The Ocean State is in […]
Publisher Mike Ryan
Mr. Ryan has been publishing Motif for almost 12 years, and wrote the film column for a number of years before that. After graduating from Portsmouth Abbey, he earned a bachelor’s in […]
Executive Summary
What We Are Motif is an arts and entertainment publication in Rhode Island. Its team publishes free papers for more than 60,000 local print readers (audited), online content for another […]
Is This Jazz?: A black and white conversation with Jhony Keys
There are few keyboard players and pianists in Rhode Island who have the stylistic breadth and musical depth of local musician Jhony Keys. He’s played in a wide range of […]
Folk-Pop Songstress Lauren King Meets Her Younger Self with New Single “The Wolf is Back”: The concept video for this sprightly tune emphasizes becoming your best self even through hard lessons.
As the first single following the 2016 release of her debut album Don’t Look Her in the Eye (which I heartily recommend), “The Wolf is Back” is a worthy introduction […]
Behind Closed Doors: Did COVID take their relationship off the rocks?
Dear C and Dr. B; Before the pandemic, my boyfriend and I were about to call it quits. When COVID hit, we put our break-up on hold. During this time, […]
The Groston Rules: Latest release from Mark Binder captures adolescence
Senior year of high school can be a defining moment in a person’s life — it’s both a jumpstart into the future and a further sculpting of the previous 17 […]
Jazz Insights: Jean O’Donnell
A list of great musicians coming out of Woonsocket must include Jean (McKenna) O’Donnell. As the sister to the late fabulous internationally acclaimed pianist Dave McKenna, who had captured the […]
The (Unofficial) Results Are In!: RI appears to award its electoral votes as expected, but local races deliver some surprises
Rhode Islanders went to the polls yesterday along with the rest of the nation. While the Ocean State dutifully awarded its four electoral votes to Joe Biden, there’s a slew […]