August 12, 6:30 - 8:30 PM Southside Cultural Center - 393 Broad Street, Providence What do the candidates for Mayor of Providence have in mind for the future of arts engagement in the “Creative Capital”? Find...
Heat Advisory in effect from August 6, 11:00 AM EDT until August 7, 08:00 PM EDT At Providence, a Heat Advisory is effective Thu, Aug 6, 11am, to Fri, Aug 7, 8pm. Afternoon temperatures/heat indices are...
Can art by Joey Visco Dogs and drafts? Is there any better way to celebrate yappy hour? If you are an animal and craft beer lover, this is an event you do not want to miss!...
Photo by Sindayiganza Photography. The FIFA World Cup tournament was full of thrills, drama, chaos, unity, and live television shots of devastated children in tears after their team lost a heartbreaking match. The final whistle brought...
Matthew Provençal as Thomas Andrews in ‘Titanic: The Broadway Musical’ at Bill Hanney's Theatre By The Sea July 23 – August 15, 2026. Photo by Mark Turek. The challenge to staging a production of “Titanic: The...
The Tattoo Awards featured a gallery wall populated by local artists. Here is a selection of the artwork on display! By Brianne Elizabeth @foxhallowart By Victori Leo Riel Grab Your Heart & Go by Allie Boyer @peaceflowercreations MONSTROELIZASUE by...
Photo by Jess Lee Images. I met Lily Spencer in an acting class taught by Eric Lutes, whom many television fans will remember from the 1990s sitcom “Caroline in the City.” Eric, who now lives in...
Rachel WS. Favorite Animal/ Favorite Floral Tara D’Agostino – Iron Lion Tattoo By the numbers, Tara D’Agostino got her first tattoo at the age of 15, picked up her own tattoo machine at the age of 19, opened...
Photo by Jillian Clark. There’s no feeling quite like finally being able to fully step into your own, to truly embrace your whole self and carry yourself through the world with that mentality. Not an identity...
Kai Nanfelt. Okee dokee folks… Last weekend I went on a ten-hour, each way, road trip to play a show. The drive wasn’t so bad, but the music was horrible. As I have mentioned before, I...
Photo by Isaac Laliberte Wards 2, 9 and 12 all report the same. Mendez wins in each! It appeared that Providence was perfectly poised to usher-in its first female mayor in history. The polls were closed and...
“You’re late, Brother,” she said, hovering outside the weathered cottage near a pebbly beach, indistinguishable from the shadows cast by moonlight that hit the thick hydrangeas. It was late in the evening of a seawind-chilled...
The NecronomiCon is a biennial celebration of the works of HP Lovecraft and beyond, and throughout the genre of “weird fiction.” Centered in downtown Providence, it boasts four days of literary panels, readings from various...
It’s almost Cthulhu – pardon my hiccup, I meant, “election” – season again. And if the tactics of these times don’t make your head swim and your bowls ache, as if you were being eviscerated...
When cover artist Bob Eggleton of Warwick first got interested in art and started sketching nightmarish creatures, he recalls, an aunt asked him, “What’s drawing a monster gonna get you in life?” He’s spent the last...
Skyler Shields (Kenickie) and the cast of the Theatre By The Sea (Wakefield, RI) production of “Grease” running thru July 18, 2026. Photo by Mark Turek. “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop! A-wop-bam-boom!” BY ALISON O’DONNELL ON JUNE 27, 2026 Grease is the...
Isham, Sheila. Teth (#8 Creation Series). 1972. Acrylic spray on canvas. Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI. (Image courtesy of the Newport Art Museum.) Quite some time ago, I read a quip that the art of diplomacy...
As an international student a year into Rhode Island, yet still only a breath into America, I finally found a question that I might be able to answer – this is my continued exploration of: What...
Tucked inside the historic Harrison Steam Complex in Providence's Olneyville neighborhood, Siren Spirits is redefining what a visit to a distillery can be. Equal parts neighborhood gathering place, cocktail destination, and craft spirits experience, this...
Music makes beer taste better? In 2016, Vrije University in Brussels, Belgium, conducted a study that showed scientific evidence that music has an impact on our taste of beer. This study concluded that lower audible...
Cold Chocolate. Okee dokee folks… Well, summer is here and for me, summer is HELL! A few years back I wrote a song about my disdain of Summer for the Empire Revue’s “Cool” show. Here are...
America, the focus of this issue, runs on wealth. So here’s how to get yourself some. It’s the perfect opportunity to launch a new column aimed at helping non-one-percenters with financial matters. Feel free to...
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“Foreigner.” I find it a harsh word that I hate seeing applied to others. Yet applied to myself, it’s the only word that half conveys how baffling I find this country at times. I’d like...
In his final year at college, cover artist William Schaff truly learned what it was like to work in a studio. “I developed a course of study in general fine arts with one of my...
Rachael Warren as Diana. Photo by Mark Turek. The Next to Normal audience is exposed to waves of raw emotions drowning your soul and dampening your eyes. You may wish you had premedicated with any of...
Blaq Sav. Photos by Lillian MK Photography. Favorite Free Verse Spoken Word 2026 Ashley Hosa Sending out a big congrats to Ashley Hosa, who came to the Spoken Awards with a multitude of wonderful supporters (shoutout to Ryan!)....
The founder of the long-standing hipster-ish West Side restaurant Julians hadn’t been involved directly with the restaurant in quite some time. But his legacy persisted. A larger-than-life personality, you never knew at what event Julian...
Renowned supporter of local music and arts Lisa Gourley (Sometimes Lisa Gourleyx) passed away on June 15. Reading reactions on social media, you can’t help but notice how often the words “nice,” “kind,” and “photography”...
This beautiful Solstice moment, June 21, 2026 brings the winds of change into our lives. The pivotal points among the planetary movers and shakers of the Zodiac find Gemini, with Uranus and Ceres, reaching across...
This old beatnik likes hitting those little out-of-the-way areas that function as a business and a show area — gallery space that allows local art types the access to a wall that perhaps they would not have otherwise. The Hairspray Salon on 259 Wickenden Street does exactly that. It allows artists to hang and display work […]
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi is the subject of an intriguing new play called Lombardi. The show opened in previews at Ocean State Theatre Company on November 6 and runs through November 24. Playwright Eric Simonson based his script on the David Maraniss book, When Pride Still Mattered – A Life of Vince Lombardi. Lombardi […]
“The biggest show in the smallest state …” just got a whole heck of a lot bigger — 10,000 more attendees bigger than last year, topping out at 25,000! I’m talking about Rhode Island Comic Con (RICC). This is the sophomore year for this pop-culture event and whereas many similar conventions are all trying emulate […]
Epic Theatre Company, in residence at The Artists’ Exchange in Cranston, RI, continues its Year of Fear with The Other Place, a new contemporary drama by Sharr White. It runs from now until November 23 at the Black Box, 50 Rolfe Square. This play is so new it premiered on Broadway less than a year […]
Double Dare By Bachelorette #4The challenge: Sci-Fi Speed Dating. At RI Comic Con. Dressed as Slave Leia, which, as far as I’ve been told (by people outside of Comic Con), is one of those ultimate guy fantasies.First, some disclaimers: I am a total geek. I can out geek many guys (and gals) when put to […]
The Motif writing team is a talented bunch with various interests. We’re geeks, drinkers, movie lovers, parents, newlyweds, farmers, and lovers of music, art, theater, books and film. And with the holiday season around the corner, you need us. We’ve tapped the interests of everyone on our writing staff and asked them to put together […]
Sorry to break it to you, but Stanley Kowalski isn’t the main character in Streetcar Named Desire. This came as a surprise to me, too; montage tribute clips of the 1951 film have always shown that Brando’s Kowalski is the central focus. And to an extent he is, but Blanche Dubois (Anna Reed), Stanley’s sister-in-law, […]
I wanted to start this column addressing the recent passing of Lou Reed. I remember reading about The Velvet Underground as a band “that almost nobody bought their records but everyone that did started a band.” As a person that perpetually starts fake bands that never go anywhere, this seemed like something to check out. […]
Be a part of the local film scene at the Hollywood East party on Nov 12! A ton of the local players on the New England film scene will be there. Come make new friends to work on future projects with. Chris Byers, the head of the NE Studios, is planning to be there, too! […]
Alt holiday gift ideas for the beer nerd in your life The leaves are still on the trees, candy wrappers are still on the floor, the nights are just getting cold and there are Christmas commercials on TV. Yep, the retail Christmas season has jumped the gun again and pre-empted our regularly scheduled program of […]
