Babylon cover art; band photo; image credits: The Huntress and Holder of Hands At a recent record-release concert in Providence, Rhode Island, MorganEve Swain teased a nearly full house that her band The Huntress and Holder...
Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade. The party doesn't have to end after Halloween weekend. Keep the festivities going with a trip back to the Roaring Twenties when the North American tour of The Great Gatsby...
The 2026 Food Truck Awards are coming up soon – November 10, the day before Veteran’s Day. We’re excited to make it a true industry night – no food trucks will have to serve anything......
Artwork: AMOC by Ewa Romaszewicz in collaboration with Ambarish Karmalkar, PhD. For many of us, our most common run-ins with the scientific disciplines happen in two places: the classroom or a news headline. I think it’s...
What does it feel like to be in a room beaming with creative thinkers and artists? What does it look like when a group of motivational, dedicated, hard-working artists comes together? What creative forces can...
(New Harvest “It’s Party Time” poster; poster design: Britta Gustafson / New Harvest; photo credit: Sean Carlson) Photos by Ampersand Creative Co. From one former industrial site to another, New Harvest Coffee Roasters has expanded from humble...
L-R: President Patrick Canary and Secretary Chris Meringolo. Photo by Scott Barnett. Have you ever wanted to homebrew? Yes? I have great news! The RI Brewing Society is holding a “Learn to Homebrew Day.” The American...
When I sat down on a comfy couch at Big Nice Studio in Carrington, RI, for an interview with Space Cowboy Newt, one of the first things they told me was that they’re a rambler....
A new chapter for digital recording studio, The Proving Ground, has begun and owner and producer, Dylan Titus, is ready to celebrate two-and-a-half years of operation by putting together an event showcasing artists who have...
Okee dokee folks… Soon we should know whether this country is going to completely fall into fascism, erupt into civil war, or maintain democracy, as it should. A few weeks ago, Tom Morello presented the Power...
Swan Point Cemetery. Some of the eeriest places in RI are ready for you to check out, if you dare. As the first crisp, damp breaths of autumn begin to catch at the lungs and the trees...
Open: Rollers: A new sports bar has arrived in Providence as of June 12. Rollers hosts watch parties, serves a variety of diner-style food and drinks, and offers both private and semi-private party events. The spot...
1. Higher Education Facilities Bond Measure -- $275 million This bond would use $165 million to create an integrated health building at the URI campus, open to the public, which would also be used for labs...
For cover artist Mishki Thompson of Hopkinton, love helped her conquer a disability and embark on a journey of learning and practicing the art of beadworking, and passing on her Indigenous traditions to the next...
It’s 2003, Thursday afternoon, in a quiet little town called Eberndorf, in the deep south of Austria, surrounded by fields, trees, and medieval churches; 10-year-old me is in my parents’ living room, glued to the...
Photo by Cat Laine. The logistics, physical, and emotional demands of the production are mind-boggling – one actor spending 80 minutes morphing among 12 characters with unique accents and mannerisms while delivering lines almost non-stop and,...
Henry Nwaru in SAME DIFFERENCE at Wilbury Theatre Group. Photo by Erin X. Smithers. It’s 1993 in Providence. A gang leader from Harlem lands at his ex-girlfriend's apartment in the middle of the night — wounded,...
A reimagined production of the international, award-winning musical The Bodyguard will arrive at the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC), October 23 – 25, 2026, as part of the Theatre’s 2026/2027 *Encore Series. Based on the 1992...
All photos by Lillian MK Photo. RI Battle of the Bands had a smooth run this year, every performance dodging the monsoons that have plagued past iterations. The year started out with 16 highly accomplished, but...
Okee dokee folks… I mentioned this in my column a few months ago and now it is coming close to being (IS) a major issue. GASOLINE. Before the mango moron started his war of distraction...
We all know that women were the first to make beer, right? It was discovered by accident when grains were used to make other foods digestible. Dried grain was stored and used to make bread....
Haunted Attractions 1. Factory of Terror Terror experience for all ages, including a variety of imaginative themes and thorough design. 120 Pearl Street, Fall River, MA 774-415-0153 factoryofterror.com 2. Scary Acres Fall festivities with the main attraction - a three-part terror experience...
Cover artist Nilton Cárdenas of Cranston refuses to stand still. “I am constantly moving, and creating art,” he says in an interview at Sharks Peruvian Cuisine on Broad Street in Central Falls. And when he’s not...
Photos by the author. Magda León is more than a multidisciplinary artist; she is an immigrant woman who uses art to explore her identity, her roots, and her connection to community. When I asked her how...
Photo by Scott Lapham. For the Rhode Island artist, educator and muralist, creativity has become a way to open doors, strengthen community and help others discover possibilities within themselves. For Nilton Cárdenas, giving back does not begin...
Every Hispanic Heritage Month, we are given an opportunity to look back.We celebrate the pioneers who came before us, the traditions they preserved, the institutions they built, and the sacrifices they made so generations that...
Photo by Dave Cantelli. Ever rummaged through your spouse’s sweater drawer expecting to find argyles, yet instead stumbling across a secret fetish so utterly demented that it immediately sent you bolting toward a new life? Deftly...
Rachael Warren as Clare. Photo by Mark Turek. If there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, The Getaway Driver at Trinity Repertory Company is it. The world premiere of the two-person play...
Photo by Jesse Dufault. Hark, spectators of the realm! If thy soul doth hunger for a "reverent irreverence" turning a 77-seat black box into a roaring arena of wretched romance, get thee to the Burbage Theatre...
RI Music Hall of Fame plaque honoring Rudy Cheeks/The Fabulous Motels/The Young Adults. (Photo: Michael Bilow) Much has already been written on the passing Sep 18 at age 76 of Bruce McCrae, who used the stage name...
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. […]
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 […]
Throughout our 20-year history, our commitment to the local arts community has never wavered. Even today, you can open any issue of Motif Magazine and see elements of art, music, and culture on almost every page. It’s one of the things we’re most proud of as an organization. This commitment starts from the very first […]
A woman stands on the edge of a balcony overlooking the city. Blocky brick buildings squat underneath golden spires with great clocks; cobblestones wobble the edges of distinct lines, ivory grows up the alleyway, and the few distinctly new, sleek metal buildings catch the last rays of light like a gold tooth in an old […]
It doesn’t feel real that the Motif is turning 20. Sometimes, it feels like I’ve been writing for Motif for a hundred years. Other times, it seems like I started last month. When I started, about 19 years ago, I was writing for another “alternative” paper called The Agenda. It was around for a couple […]
As you may know, I am brewing a beer with Vigilant Brewery for Motif’s 20th Anniversary. I presented this project in December of 2022 to Motif and Vigilant Brewing. During this time, I have committed my Saturdays to learning how to brew beer at Vigilant Brewing with the help of Vigilant’s brewers John Otero, Chris […]
After 12 years of occasionally trying and false starts, we are finally releasing an official Motif beer. Co-brewed by our very own mistress of beer writing, Kelly Currier, under the tutelage of John Otero at Vigilant Brewing in Bristol, Liquid Art is dedicated to all the arts Little Rhody produces, from the culinary to the […]
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 her realization that life – and the pull of the heart – is not always within her control. In a conversational tone akin to swapping […]
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 […]
Although Rhode Island is geographically the smallest of our fifty states, we are lucky to have many non-governmental and non-profit organizations with visions that promote missions for improving social justice and equity. I recently learned about a relatively new non-profit organization called Reclaim Rhode Island. Incorporated in May of 2020, Reclaim Rhode Island was organized […]
