Naylea Hernández of Providence paints in vibrant colors like her favorite contemporary artist, Rocio Cabrera. The cover artist for Motif’s Hispanic Heritage issue, Hernández makes a point of using slime green in a number of her paintings. It’s her favorite color, she says, reminiscent of Nickelodeon’s iconic and signature substance. In her composition for the […]
Origin Beer Project of Providence took the top hops spot at Motif’s 2025 Food Truck & Drink Awards held at 195 District Park on September 14. “It feels humbling,” said co-owner and head brewer Cheyne Tessier as he held the plaque proclaiming “favorite overall brewery” for the establishment he and his wife, co-owner Erika, founded […]
You won’t see a 6-year-old wielding a blowtorch, but you will see youngsters making jewelry and working with clay at a newly launched childcare program at The Steel Yard (TSY) in on Sims Ave in Providence’s Industrial Valley. The program is free for parents and caregivers who are instructors or students at the nonprofit industrial […]
For the cover of Motif’s Student Guide issue, illustrator Kai Gietzen drew a “monstrous crumpled up ball of notebook paper,” which, he says, “Represents all of the trials one encounters throughout the school year.”. Standing before the big ball is a figure wearing a backpack and holding a pencil as a sword. “I was looking […]
The first hole of the miniature golf course at The Dusty Planet in Olneyville is emerald, like any other putting green. The second hole is golden, like a cornfield on the farm. There’s even a thigh-high model of a barn to drive the point home. But at the third hole, a flying saucer that’s landed […]
A year and a half ago, Head Brewer Elijah Lawrence joined Apponaug Brewing Company in Warwick because it gave him the opportunity to be creative, he related. And he immediately got down to work, making the first of a trio of beers whose names all end in “naut.” “It was an idea that I’d had […]
Don’t be a robot, exhorts visual and music artist Spocka Summa of Providence, the cover artist of Motif’s Fall Guide in concert with several Anti-Robot Club members. Together, they designed this issue’s artwork: “Break free and be yourself!” In today’s media-driven, celebrity culture, it’s easy to become programmed, “Like a computer that does XYZ, and […]
The Dirt Palace, a collective of feminist artists, will celebrate its 25th anniversary this month with a fundraising brunch on the lawn of its Wedding Cake House at 514 Broadway in Providence The suggested donation is $25 to attend the event, which will be held on Sunday, August 24, from 11am to 3pm. Attendees can […]
“I finally found my niche,” Sydney Bienstock says of her journey from doing arts and crafts as a youngster to fashioning distinctive collages, like the one gracing the cover of this Motif issue. Bienstock always loved art. But she didn’t consider herself a good illustrator or painter, she relates. Wanting to be a creative, she […]
For cover artist Shey Rivera Ríos, it’s all about community. “I create in all kinds of art forms; I really love performance and visual art,” they say, adding, “All of it is connected to community and organizing.” The artwork for the Motif cover was taken from a poster Rivera Ríos designed for the fundraiser Foo […]