Reception: Feb 13, 6pm.
January 29 - May 17Opening reception: AHA! Thurs Feb 13, 6pm.
February 5 - July 26
Cloth-based face coverings RI Department of Health (DoH) Director Nicole Alexander-Scott, following new federal guidance, advised everyone to wear cloth-based face coverings, such as bandannas, that cover the mouth and nose. Face coverings can be hand-sewn or improvised from T-shirts and scarves. These are not intended to protect the wearer but to prevent the wearer, […]
There is a famously sarcastic aphorism “Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made,” but the Rhode Island General Assembly despite all of the unpleasant grinding often fails even to produce sausage. While the legislature has dithered for nearly a decade about legalizing recreational use of cannabis, […]
After considerable discussion and research, Motif decided to publish our regularly scheduled print edition. We regard it as a valuable public service. We are safely distributing it with due regard for the coronavirus. Physical magazines cannot carry infection. Virus droplets break down harmlessly on paper or cardboard in a few hours even if coughed or […]
A group of four independent food service operators sent a letter to RI Gov. Gina Raimondo on March 17, desperately asking for help from state government: “The COVID-19 crisis, and the necessary government-mandated gathering restrictions, [have] shuttered most of us. Those still left open are seeing as much as a 75% decrease in sales. While […]
The Providence French Film Festival 2020 (“PFFF20”), now in its 22nd year, will screen all of its events on the Brown University campus at the Granoff Center for the Arts, 154 Angell St, PVD. All screenings are open to the public, and tickets may be purchased on the web either in advance or by entering […]
A group of us were walking down Empire Street in Downcity around 8:30pm on a Saturday night, and we saw a van, admittedly parked in a no-parking zone, right outside AS220. Our attention was captured by two items: one a hand-lettered cardboard sign on the dashboard explaining that the owner of the van was homeless […]
This is not a theater review. Kelly Robertson performed the one-woman show Natural Shocks by Lauren Gunderson, directed by Erin Cawley, for a single sold-out night at Wilbury Group on Feb 18. Robertson has demonstrated impressive ability on stage, as I’ve noted previously in such shows as Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo […]
Phoebe Bean presented “Relics, Rebels, and Rum” at the RI Historical Society (RIHS) where she works as librarian in their Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center. Particularly striking was a small part of her talk using a few images from the collection to illustrate the routine details of the North American Triangular Trade in which RI […]
A shooting on New Year’s Day that resulted in the death of Cheryl Smith, 54, at her home at 100 Baxter St, Pawtucket, has led to felony charges for murder in the first degree and conspiracy against Jack Doherty, 23, and Shaylyn Moran, 18. While homicides are uncommon in Rhode Island and extremely rare in […]
There is no question that HP Lovecraft, influential writer of horror fiction and son of Providence, held views that were clearly racist, outdated outliers even by the standards of his time. My goal here is not to excuse his racism, but to place it in a context of Lovecraft as a human being with very […]
