Curated by Mary Dondero. Artist reception: Fri, Jan 10, 6pm.
January 10 - February 23Carol Langstaff and Ana Flores. Reception: Sat Jan 11, 2pm.
January 11 - February 28Opening receptions: Thu Jan 16 & Feb 20, 5pm.
January 16 - March 1Opening reception: Sun Jan 26, 2pm.
January 18 - February 23Opening reception: Sat Jan 18.
January 18 - February 28Gallery reception: Thu Jan 23, 4:30pm
January 23 - March 16Reception: Feb 13, 6pm.
January 29 - May 17A Pittsburgh real estate developer with mayoral ambitions struggles between gentrifying his neighborhood and maintaining it’s cultural force.
January 30 - March 1Sing, dance, clap, cheer and move to the music with your friends from Bubble Guppies. 10am-2pm.
February 1 - March 2Opening reception: AHA! Thurs Feb 13, 6pm.
February 5 - July 26Opening Reception: Sat Feb 8, 6pm
February 8 - February 29
Brian Venable grew up on the self-proclaimed hillbilly country music of Dwight Yoakam and the Dust Bowl sorrows of Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. On a walk home one afternoon in Memphis, Tennessee, he found a stack of vinyl abandoned on a street corner. Hauling the lot home, he listened transfixed as the new-wave whirls […]
When Elizabeth Rush arrived in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2008, she dwelled on the former capital’s colonial buildings. For nearly a century, the British Empire claimed and governed the city as Rangoon and its greater territory as British Burma. The independent union, federating more than 100 distinct ethnic groups and languages into seven states, fell with […]
Compared to Blondie, inspired by Elvis Costello and opening for the Ramones at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, The Mundanes roused Providence in the late ’70s and early ’80s. After they left for New York, their keyboardist John Linnell went on to form They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh. As the Giants return to Providence, Sean […]
Around the world, shared-reading programs bring communities together to experience a single work of literature. Canada’s public broadcaster sponsors a nationwide Canada Reads campaign. In Dublin, Ireland, One City, One Book welcomes readers into a narrative tied to the city. As Ocean State residents begin a new year by collectively opening Rising: Dispatches from a […]
It’s winter in New England. Plan a local getaway to take in some books with a side of beers. After you read our feature (motifri.com/riffraffturns2) and Q&A (motifri.com/ramadanroberge) on PVD favorite Riffraff, give some thought as to whether you’d prefer to pair your poetry with a pilsner or a porter at these spots: Elements: Books […]
On December 7, Riffraff bookstore and bar (60 Valley St. #107A, PVD) celebrated its second anniversary (see story motifri.com/riffraffturns2. Sean Carlson interviewed cofounders Emma Ramadan and Tom Roberge for Motif. Sean Carlson (Motif): What duos or tag-teams have you admired? Any parallels you see in yourselves? Emma Ramadan: I greatly admire husband-wife translator teams, such […]
Note: Read a Q&A with Rifffraff cofounders Emma Ramadan and Tom Roberge at motifri.com/ramadanroberge In 1773, well before Olneyville became a Providence neighborhood, Christopher Olney established a place for paper production along the Woonasquatucket River. The Brown George Paper Mill passed to his sons, only to sell at public auction due to financial distress. In […]
When Poindexter Coffee opened off the lobby of the Graduate Providence hotel (formerly the Biltmore, 11 Dorrance St, PVD) in May 2019, its interior included literature as part of its aesthetic. Vintage hardcovers crisscross both sides of the fireplace, leaving guests a chance to thumb a classic edition of This Side of Paradise by F. […]
On December 7, 1949, a New York Times column characterized the struggles of those in need: “The children who do not laugh; the youths whose lives are twisted; the men and women struck down by accident or disease or sudden poverty; the aged who know no peace… They are in every city and in every […]
“And I am going to try to love / And I am going to rise above” For four decades, Daniel Johnston crafted raw, lo-fi, searingly honest music that simultaneously achieved wide popularity and remained below the radar. His songs set scenes on “My So-Called Life,” “The OC,” “Scrubs,” “Friday Night Lights” and Girls, and the […]
