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 […]
Events:
The Court: Art in Play
September 24, 2025 - April 26, 2026The Flower, The Labor, and The Sea
September 27, 2025 - June 28, 2026
5,000 Words of Summer: Forget the movies! These books are sure to cool you down…or heat you up
Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher: Though I don’t indulge in romance often (except when I need a palette cleanser between heavier books), I couldn’t put down Love Redesigned. Asher’s novel […]
Hottest Authors of the Summer: Three Local Authors Share their Beach Reads
VICTORIA DALPE: Alone in the woods, some of us find solace. In that solace, some of us find fear – afraid of what lurks in the shadows or what lurks […]
Rhody Read: Stacey Love: My Lessons on Love, Life, Loss by Stacey Caputi Liakos
Stray Love is RI native Stacey Caputi Liakos’ compelling and candid memoir in which she recounts her decade-long relationship with Ray-Ray, a charismatic bad-boy and drug hustler, and wrestles with […]
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 […]
2024 Motif Food Truck Awards: Voting Ends August 1. Event on Sunday, August 11.
To vote for the 2024 Food Truck Awards, click here. Rhode Island’s food truck scene goes to show how beloved these mobile food carriers really are. These annual awards aim […]
Motif 2024 Drink Awards: Voting Ends August 1
We get excited about the Drink Awards every year in part because the RI brewery and distillery community is so great at bonding together despite any perceived professional rivalries, united […]
New Story in an Old Neighborhood: RI Actor/Director Nick Albanese to Show His Film Charles Street
Directed by RI’s own Nick Albanese, Charles Street is a depiction of his life growing up on one of Providence’s main arteries. Now a resident of Lincoln, Albanese has fond […]
A Beautiful Ruckus: Studio Playground
Studio Playground provides children, teens, and adults the opportunity to learn the art of clown and physical acting. They ask that everyone arrive as their true self and leave their […]
Cape Verdean History: The 49th Annual Cape Verdean Independence Festival
Rhode Island is home to one of the largest populations of Cape Verdean Americans in the country. An estimated 18,000 Cape Verdeans call the Ocean State home, a population second […]