Motif

Author: Emily Olson

  • I’ll Bet You Think This Song Is About You

    For once, Carly Simon, we’re right! And it has nothing to do with our vanity! Though we can’t deny we have a healthy dose of it. How much do you know about these songs that are most definitely about RI?

    1. This iconic performer sings she was “Fully Matured by the Time she was Ten” in  My Sweet Rhode Island Red.

    ANSWER: Tina Turner

    2. In this song written by Paul Williams, a certain amphibean laments leaving Rhode Island.

    ANSWER: “Movin’ Right Along” from The Muppet Movie 

    3. This Beatles parody band sang about “Shaking Maracas in Rhode Island” in their song Calico Girlfriend Samba

    ANSWER: The Monkees

    4. The classic “Rhode Island is Famous For You,” popularized by Blossom Dearie, started off as part of what musical?

    ANSWER: The musical revue Inside, U.S.A. 

    5. This song about the raping and pillaging of the west begins with the lyric:  She came from Providence, One in Rhode Island, Where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air….

    ANSWER: “The Last Resort” by The Eagles

  • Harvest Some Fun

    Harvest Some Fun

    We are counting the days until the Washington County Fair returns to Richmond! We loved the virtual programming last year — we could almost smell the goats — but it just wasn’t the same. This year, we can’t wait for the carnival rides, live bands, games and demonstrations that show agriculture is alive and well in RI. And the food (fair fare?)! Stand back, cause we are gonna let our inner Templeton the rat out this year like we never have before.

    For more information or to purchase tickets online, go to washingtoncountyfair-ri.com or follow @thewashingtoncountyfair.

  • The Cabinet

    The Cabinet

    Salutations, louts and bully-boys! H.L. Popinjay here with another edition of The Cabinet, the column which, much like the chocolate cabinets of my wayward Rhode Island youth, is bound to give you a stomachache.

    Politicking is a nasty business these days, as evidenced by the recent public spat between The Mayor and The Governor over the teachers’ contract. Whatever one may make of the motivations behind that juicy piece of political theater, we can all agree that Councilman Narducci’s statement, in which he claimed that “raised voices and aggressive behavior will never result in productive change,” was cretinously muttonheaded. Raised voices and aggressive behavior are the only things that ever result in anything at all, particularly in the gormless muck of politicking. Well, that and bribery.

    Speaking of bribery, this columnist hopes that the $100 vaccine payments manage to boost our state’s plateauing vaccination rates. Ah, to live in a country that will bribe you to take life-saving medicine! While, of course, continuing to deny access to so much other life-saving medicine. Truly a land of contrasts.
    Until next time, I remain hacking Canadian smoke,
    Your Humble Columnist,
    H.L. Popinjay

  • On the Cover

    On the Cover

    Do you recognize that hand on our cover? No? Let’s play a little game. Gen Xers over here, Zoomers over there. Now, Xers — picture that hand chopping wildly at the air, dressed in an oversized suit, the epitome of cool. Zoomers — picture that hand on TikTok, chopping wildly at the air, the epitome of terrible dad dance moves. Any guesses?

    This photo is a crop of RISD alum David Byrne of The Talking Heads as he performed at San Francisco’s The Boarding House in 1977. The photo was taken by storied RI photographer Richard McCaffrey, who has photographed the biggest musicians in the world for the biggest publications in the world. He recently compiled some of his photography into an alphabet book called Richard’s Rock & Roll Alphabet.

    For more info on Richard’s latest book and work, go to richardmccaffrey.net.

  • Providence Art Revolt: A summer celebration of art, music and community

    Providence Art Revolt: A summer celebration of art, music and community

    On July 24, from 3pm until midnight, Providence Art Revolt will take over Revival Brewing in PVD.

    The idea for Art Revolt came from the three co-hosts of the local podcast Providence Leftist Radio. It’s a political podcast that never hosts politicians. Rather it hosts local mutual aid organizations in hopes of helping them connect to like-minded listeners. The Providence Leftist Radio hosts wondered if they could bring this type of connection into the art world.

    “We wanted to host an event where people could get together and appreciate the art that’s coming out of our community,” said Art Revolt organizer and Providence Leftist Radio co-host Alex Herbert. “People buy art for their walls all the time, but my question is: If you really want to support your community, why not display a piece from a local artist?”

    Art Revolt will allow people to do just that. Ten local artists will have their work displayed and available for purchase at the event. In addition to the artists displaying their work, there will be vendor tables and food trucks, and bands will play all afternoon into the night. “The point of Art Revolt is to celebrate art from the community, and the vendors, musicians, even the food is a type of local art,” said Herbert.

    Will this become an annual event? “We’ll see how Saturday goes,” said Herbert. “The enthusiasm has been really cool. The vendors, musicians, sponsors and artists are really excited. And as long as the community-funded and community-oriented aspect of it remains, I don’t see why we couldn’t do this year after year.”

    Art Revolt takes starts at 3pm at Revival Brewery, 50 Sims Ave, PVD. Gallery artists include Derek Raymond, Vickie Smalls, Still Hear, Dsfcult Dopesicksf, Doodle in Your Head, Marius Marjolin, Hell Dweller, Gostgod, Anobelist and Wormo. Performing musicians include Dirty Mushrooms (in their first ever performance!), Baby Baby, Burr, Darklands, Bochek, DJ For All Masters, John Prince, Von the General and Satin Suede. For more info, go to fb.com/plrpod or @plrpod.

  • Don’t Hold Your Breath

    Don’t Hold Your Breath

    Imagine 

    Finding yourself 

    Being pulled underwater. 

    The current taking you out

    Into the deep.

    You

    Try your best

    To paddle your feet to the surface.

    Gasping

    Gagging

    Eyes bulging for oxygen. 

    And the weight of your ankles

    Never have the strength 

    To shake off the anchors 

    Holding you down.

    The chain of subjection.

    The more you struggle

    The more

    The rust of the iron 

    Cuts into the calves.

    Blood introduces the oppression 

    Of other predators.

    Racism 

    Discrimination 

    Police Brutality 

    Profiling 

    Redlining 

    Gentrification 

    Privatized Prisons.

    Lungs filled with ocean. 

    Blacked out.

    Being pulled Into the outer darkness.

    It’s a wonder why 

    We are stereotyped on swimming.

    Afraid to test the water.

    Never taken lessons. 

    Always second guessing 

    How cold it is

    How deep it can get.

    How long can you hold your breath?

    Until

    Emmitt Till is found 

    In Tallahatchie River?

    Until 

    They’re ready to give penicillin 

    To Macon County sharecroppers?

    Until Eric Garner 

    And George Floyd 

    Get their second wind?

    We put our hands up

    To be rescued.

    Waving a white flag in hopes

    Of a fitted life jacket.

    Instead

    Body bagged

    Toe tagged

    Target practice for the next

    Victim.

    It’s not that we just can’t breathe

    But we’ve been out of breath

    Since slave catchers and dog bites.

    We’ve been 

    Back of the Bus tired.

    We’ve been

    Klan rally gag ordered. 

    We’ve been

    Vietnam Frontlined.

    We’ve been

    Flint water poisened.

    Hell

    Being short of breath

    And

    Asthmatic 

    Tends to be life’s custom.

    To be an American 

    Is one thing.

    To be an African American 

    Well…

    Let’s just see how long

    You can hold your breath.

  • Breaking the Rules: Artist Tate Won Chen learned the rules just to break them

    Breaking the Rules: Artist Tate Won Chen learned the rules just to break them

    Tate Won Chen was introduced to art through calligraphic Chinese painting. “In the practice of Chinese ink painting,” she explains, “there are right and wrong ways to do things. There are materials to prepare. There are ways to hold your brush and posture. There are ways to think about open fields balanced by tighter weights and how you place them. It gets to be very lyrical and poetic, and that’s been my foundation.”

    Pablo Picasso is credited with saying, “Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.” As Tate describes the way her art has evolved, it seems she’s taken that advice to heart. “I love being aggressive with a pencil and dancing around a page — not holding it too tight or letting myself get too close so I can let something happen and let it be scrawl. I love organic shapes where there’s no right or wrong. I love plants. I love figure drawing. A lot of it really is about keeping your own heart alive and hopefully being able to have that resonate in someone else’s soul.”

    Though Tate identifies as a painter, she pursues a lot of different crafts. “Everything I do goes under this umbrella in my brain as fine arts,” she says. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, she’s been putting all her free time into mask making because LifeSpan contacted her with a pattern and asked her to help. “Sewing can be empowering right now and a way to make small contributions to a community that seems disconnected. When we’re full of fear, that’s a way to keep my hands busy.” 

    She also crafts small-scale mobiles that are made out of mostly found objects. “Bits of metal and shells, glass, coins, ends of shoelaces. Bits and bobbles. They’re arranged like you’d balance a mobile,” she says. “They’re formal studies meant to be suspended thoughts. Like being suspended in time. I’ve been thinking about them as dreamscapes.” 

    She’s momentarily distracted from our interview by her pet pigeon, Hermes, who flies free in her room. “She had a broken leg as a fledgling, and now she’s 9. She’s been the most intelligent and loyal and social animal I’ve ever had. She’s just living her little life on my pile of scarves.” 

    In describing her pigeon, Tate expresses reverence for the natural world. “We can talk in scientific terms to explain nature, but when you see a rainbow, you’re just struck by raw awe.” That, she says, is a philosophy she shares with The Reliquarium, a live/work art collective with which she’s been involved for four years. She’s currently working with them on a massive project in Lincoln, called TimeZone. They’re building a multiroom game experience in which participants will have to face challenges in order to move through the game and earn points. It soon will be unveiled at R1 Indoor Karting.    

    “What’s neat about The Reliquarium is a desire to re-enchant the world. The collective and I both come from more organized places, but we try to find that whimsy in the cracks of the sidewalk. We started off with that same song in our heart of the awe of nature and the natural world,” she says.  

    She speaks with excitement about the great communal push she experiences through her work with The Reliquarium. “Everyone has their own little specialty, so there’s always someone who can tackle that thing. A certain part of me feels empowered by working in a collective because of that trust. A mixture of introverted creativity and extroverted participation really gets the sparks going.” 

  • Shake Your Groove Thing

    Shake Your Groove Thing

    Roller disco is coming to Providence! Thursday and Friday nights, the rink at the Bank Newport City Center will be transformed into a massive outdoor Roller Disco. PVDLive is curating Thursday nights and Conscious Club curates the DJs and live performers Friday night, while the mood is set by a spinning disco ball. The Trinity Beer Garden will be serving up beverages and snacks.

    After a long pandemic year, strap on your wheels and proclaim to the night, in the immortal words of Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive!”

  • The Rhode Island Home Food Manufacture Act Needs Your Support

    The Rhode Island Home Food Manufacture Act Needs Your Support

    I’m Brian Leosz, the owner of Butterbang, a one-man croissant bakery in Providence. As a small food business owner, I understand the risk of taking a food concept from the home kitchen to a commercial kitchen. 

    I wish it were a less risky endeavor in our state. However, food businesses of all sizes in Rhode Island are required to invest large sums of money in outfitting a commercial kitchen before they have a single customer. Forty-eight states have cottage food laws on the books or have not prohibited non-hazardous food production in homes. Alongside New Jersey, Rhode Island still outright forbids home food production for commercial sale.

    Kara Donovan, owner of A Spoonful of Sugar bakery, was ordered by the Department of Health to cease operations from her home kitchen earlier this year. Until that point, she had been supplementing her household income with a word-of-mouth sugar cookie and cake business. 

    That’s when Donovan sought to establish a new law to allow the operation of home-based food businesses in Rhode Island. Since then, she has been working with Senator Alana DiMario to bring a bill before the House and Senate to establish the Home Food Manufacture Act as law.

    This piece of legislation would alter an existing law that allows farms to produce and sell non-hazardous foods to the public. If successful, citizens across the state would be able to produce and sell non-hazardous foods from their home kitchens. 

    5 Reasons to Support the Home Food Manufacture Act

    1. Leasing a commercial kitchen is a risky commitment
    Many first-time foodpreneurs take on significant risk by signing a year-long or multi-year lease. But what if the business can’t make enough money in the first few months to pay the outstanding lease? That’s a dangerous place to be in.  If people could start a business at home, they could work out the kinks and establish a customer base with very low risk. They can then graduate to a commercial space when it makes financial sense. But some food businesses want to operate indefinitely on a small scale from the home, and this law makes that possible.

    2. Hourly kitchens are expensive
    Shared kitchens are another option, often costing between $25-$35 an hour. There are usually many hidden fees above and beyond this base rate. Many renters end up shuttering when costs cut too deeply into profits to make for a sustainable business model. I hear this time and again from food incubator and shared kitchen occupants. They could bake the same batch of 100 cupcakes or several dozen loaves of bread at home at a substantial cost savings.

    3. It can greatly increase profitability
    Working where you live provides tremendous cost savings for the solo food entrepreneur. Not having to pay a commercial lease on top of your home mortgage or rent may be the difference between success and bankruptcy if you want to remain a micro-business.

    4. It will increase self-employment
    Stay at home parents, caregivers, and those wishing to produce where they live can work around their own schedules and constraints while meaningfully supplementing their household income. 

    5. Home food businesses will enrich neighborhoods
    Imagine a baker in your neighborhood selling goods from their kitchen window. These businesses can enrich the community at a time when unity is a lacking notion. Neighbors waiting in line get to know each other and build connections through these hubs of information.

    How You Can Support the Bill

    The Rhode Island Home Food Manufacture Act (House Bill 5758/Senate Bill 552) is still waiting on a floor vote in the Senate. In effort to get this bill on the docket for a vote before the 2021 session closes in June, our Senators and House Representatives need to feel a groundswell of support from Rhode Islanders. To learn more about this bill and voice your support:

    • Visit butterbang.com/home-food-act
    • Click “Send Email” on the page to send a preformatted letter of support for the bill to all House Representatives and Senators. 

    I’m confident establishing this law would provide gainful self-employment to thousands of Rhode Islanders and kickstart many exciting food ventures in the future. But this bill needs your help to cross the finish line!

  • Island Moving Company Returns to Live Performance

    Island Moving Company Returns to Live Performance

    On May 6, 7 and 8, Island Moving Company (IMC) will hold a hybrid in-person and livestreamed performance called Return to Live at the WaterFire Arts Center.

    The performance will feature world premieres from guest choreographer Colin Connor, former artistic director of the José Limón Dance Company, and Danielle Genest, IMC’s associate artistic director. The performance will also include Mark Harootian’s recent work, Steady Grip, plus Ruth…Less, and A Life Well Lived by Miki Ohlsen, IMC’s artistic director. All performances will be accompanied by live music arranged by music director and cellist Adrienne Taylor, with pianist Andrei Bauman and violinist Emma Lee Holmes-Hicks.

    Ohlsen, who curated the performance with Genest, said of the upcoming collection of pieces, “It furthers IMC’s commitment to artistic collaboration and providing audiences with the rare opportunity to engage with two live art forms in a singular production.”

    Return to Live takes place May 6 – 8 at the WaterFire Arts Center. 475 Valley St, PVD. For more information, go to islandmovingco.org