The Poet of our Times
The Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading is returning for its 31st consecutive year, to begin black history month. The annual free event will celebrate the powerful work of poet Langston […]
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
Spoken Word Award Winners & Interviews
A night full of laughs, tears, and a literal double rainbow, Motif’s 3rd annual RI Spoken Word Awards ceremony was one for the books. With live performances from Julius Morris, […]
Motif’s 2024 RI Spoken Awards Recap
At the 2024 Spoken Word Awards, hosts Chip Doug and Anjel Newmann ushered in a night of storytelling, poetry, comedy, and more by welcoming nominees and spectators alike. Doug is […]
Enjoy the Medicine: Langston Hughes Poetry Reading carries on important legacy
Langston Hughes was one of the champions of the Harlem Renaissance, a prolific writer, poet, and thought leader. Although he passed away in 1967, his work lives on and has […]
2023 Inaugural Spoken Awards – Winners
Spoken words have power – to spread ideas, create new thoughts, spin up ideas, or even just amuse or entertain. They are the OG medium of communication, artistic expression and […]
2023 Inaugural Spoken Awards – Nominees
Spoken words have power – to spread ideas, create new thoughts, spin up ideas, or even just amuse or entertain. They are the OG medium of communication, artistic expression and […]
Funda-Mental Storytelling: The esteemed fest celebrates 25 years
Funda is a Zulu word meaning “to learn.” This month, the Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS) are hoping you learn about the art of storytelling in all forms and have […]
Artistic Expression: This pandemic is hitting artists where it hurts
Performance cancellations, while necessary, are having a very real impact on the income of local artists. On this page, we’ll compile a list of resources and fun stuff to help […]
2018 Theater Award Winners
This year saw a number of records broken at the Motif Theater Awards. The number of voters was the most yet, with 4,565 readers weighing in on their favorite performers […]
Rhode Island’s Sweet Little Variety Show
“All the world is a Sweet Little Variety Show and all of our LBGTQ friendly humans merely feminist, anti-racist, queer-positive, body positive players in a cabaret,” to paraphrase William Shakespeare. […]