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Fast(er) Fashion: Is AI the answer to creating the magic?

Fashion can go deeper than we give it credit for, allowing us to express our unique identities, enhance our persona, break norms, and adapt to changing attitudes and gender dynamics. New fabrics and applications can inspire creativity. Fashion lets us embrace our individuality and stand out, which makes us happy. This trend has been called […]

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Two Sides of the Same Rack: Thrifting & Consignment

Picture this: you walk by a storefront with mannequins donning stylish skirts, tops, and accessories, creating a masterpiece of an outfit. Walking inside feels like walking into a curated clothing heaven with items ranging from belts, flared jeans, summer hats, and new-with-the-tags-on bathing suits. You walk over to a rack filled with enticing options and […]

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Everything Isn’t What It Seems: Providence opens up its Weird portals for another year of Necronomicon

In the dark room near the bottom of the ocean a myriad of shadows float by. Strange, undulating fauna grow from an endless floor. Particles of flesh hang suspended between their blue curtains. Silence is a thick blanket where the sun doesn’t shine. The mind is left with nothing to process, it imagines the sounds […]

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Growers Grow, Part 1: Observations of the business ecology of cannabis dispensaries and growers in the Ocean State

Let’s face it. – if not for the growers, there would be no weed for sale in any Ocean State dispensaries. Of course, there is the intrepid home grown culture, but really, with each home grower limited to only six plants, there would never be a sufficient supply of weed to meet the demand. This […]

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Motif Dispatch: Profiles in Distribution

The people who deliver Motif are innovative artists, writers, gifted actors and musicians in their own right. Ever wonder, Who are these couriers of arts and culture? We can’t profile the full dozen drivers in this space. In addition to these profiles, we want to thank Dave Messere, James Brien, Wayne Stolcz, Lola Blu, Jon […]

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Shirley Prisco: Motif Astrologer

Shirley Prisco is the Sun Sign columnist for Motif Magazine. She is a professional astrologer certified by the National Council of Geo-Cosmic Research, an international organization devoted to astrology education. In addition, she is a member of The International Society for Astrological Research and the Association for Astrological Networking. We recently sat down for a […]

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Fosters Shady Acres Diner: 50’s nostalgia in a down-home apocalyptic cafe

Shady Acres Diner on Danielson Pike in Foster, Rhode Island, has been a long-time staple with fun, nostalgic ambiance. Offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner to locals and travelers alike, everyone is family here! “We survived COVID, having bought the diner from the original owners just a few months before COVID hit,” says proprietor Desi Wolf. […]

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Beatnik Beginnings: From the streets to the scene

Jim Vickers started Motif Magazine in 2004. He started Motif to give voice to marginalized groups of underrepresented Rhode Islanders. Vickers agreed to write an article for our special 20th anniversary edition. This is his story. In the beginning, there was the NewPaper and Nice Paper. It was a friendly rivalry between Rhode Island-based alternative […]

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Unsung Scholar: Presidential hopeful to speak at civil rights documentary screening in Newport

For political enthusiasts looking for fact-based rationalism in our hyper-polarized political climate, this film represents a breath of fresh air on the horizon. At the intersection of sanity and racial intellectualism, the documentary Dr. Ira Raid Haverford College’s Unsung Scholar and Activist comes to Newport this month. The documentary was screened this spring at the […]

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