ON THE COVER: John Gendron
“I make art in the same way you walk, or breathe, or eat a meal,” says illustrator and designer John Gendron of Providence, who created the cover for Motif’s year-end […]
Events:
A Shared Journey
September 13, 2025 - March 5, 2026This Is a Thing, Recent Gifts to Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, 2020–2025
September 14, 2025 - March 1, 2026The Court: Art in Play
September 24, 2025 - April 26, 2026The Flower, The Labor, and The Sea
September 27, 2025 - June 28, 2026
ON THE COVER: Carey Good
Who spit on our cover? The cover art chose itself for this issue, says photographer and printmaker Carey Good of Providence, who created it.“I started etching on three copper plates. […]
ON THE COVER: Daniel Smelansky
“I’ve leveled up,” illustrator Daniel Smelansky of Providence says with a chuckle of his latest gig: creating the cover of Motif’s Gift Guide. That’s because he made a word-and-image collage […]
ON THE COVER: Ella Mahoney
In creating the cover of Motif’s Indigenous Peoples Month issue, artist and visual arts teacher Ella Mahoney took her inspiration from her birthplace, Aquinnah, in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. “Every year, […]
ON THE COVER: Matthew Bernier
Fittingly, old haunts surround a couple of skeletons on the cover of Motif’s Halloween issue, as designed by digital artist Matthew Bernier of Barrington. They are the names of businesses […]
ON THE COVER: Kai Gietzen
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 […]
On the Cover: Spocka Summa of Anti-Robot Club
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 […]
On the Cover: Sydney Bienstock
“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 […]
On the Cover: Shey Rivera Ríos
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 […]
On the Cover: Alejandra Spruill
In her compositions, multimedia artist Alejandra Spruill of Orange, MA, focuses on contrast. “I look for things that don’t go together, but create a whole,” she says. For example, Spruill […]