Serve the song, enrich the community: The Proving Ground is a studio with a vision

 You know how when you talk to people about something or someone they love they suddenly sit up straighter, remember things they thought they’d forgotten, and share their experiences with a sparkle in their eyes?...

BTS with DMK: An interview with storyteller KF Fuller

Rhode Island is bursting with creative energy. Providence calls itself the Creative Capital but that concept doesn’t stick to the confines of the city’s boundaries. The creatives that help make the Ocean State one helluva...

The Sandwich Hut: A Sammy Slam Dunk

There are some places in RI that feel less like a business and more like a trip back home. The Sandwich Hut is one of them. It all began in 1963, when Joe Tatulli, a World...

Parent Support Network for Beauty Health

Give and you shall receive! The time of year for giving is upon us, and the Parent Support Network of Rhode Island (PSN) continuously provides care and services to the community for those in need....

HELP IS A PHONE CALL AWAY: No one deserves to be abused

Abuse is an experience that many individuals have unfortunately lived through, but it is a topic that doesn’t get the coverage it deserves. There is a stigma, along with the plethora of other emotions a...

New Year, New Beers, New Rear: The Balance of Craft Consumption and Staying in Shape

Resolutions are great if they are realistic. However, isn’t resolving to always or never do something setting one up for failure? The best advice that I have is to set some goals that are achievable,...

Murmur Hi-Fi Revives the Ritual Nature of Experiencing Music

On a chilly December morning, Robert recounts to me the time he played his mother's favorite song, Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" through his hi-fi system. After the cumbersome time spent lugging the equipment and then...

Roots Report

Okee dokee folks… Well, it’s a new year. People put way too much stock in that. Shit just carries over from the previous year. Time is a human-made construct. In the big picture it doesn’t...

PVD Patient Care in Peril: Potential closure of two hospitals looms large

Photo courtesy of Gina Montecalvo Recent news has been grim about the future of medical care in our capital city. Dire finances have essentially endangered two of our local institutions: Roger Williams Medical Center and Fatima...

How To Stick To Your New Year’s Fitness Resolution

I get it. It’s the new year and yes! Finally a reason to lock into some new routines. I love that. I’ve been there. However, the clock’s midnight strike is not turning your glass slippers...

American Caesar Salad: Venezuela edition

News broke of an audacious operation on Jan 3 where US forces flew into Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and flew them out to stand trial in federal...

ON THE COVER: Dalton Kaplan

Cover artist Dalton Kaplan of Pawtucket always had the art bug. “When I was a kid, I watched way too many cartoons,” the illustrator and graphic designer laughs. While sitting in front of the TV he...

Two Separate Periods Precipitation Mon – Wed: Snow and Freezing Rain, then Rain

At Providence, a clipper low Mon night followed by a shortwave Tue night into Wed morning will bring two separate episodes of precipitation, the first beginning as minimal snow possibly changing to freezing rain and...

Suspect Dead in Brown Mass Shooting and MIT Professor Murder: Authorities say crimes committed by single suspect

Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, identified by authorities as the suspect in both the Dec 13 mass shooting at Brown University in Providence that killed two and injured nine and the Dec 15 murder of MIT Professor...

YEAR-END REVIEW: Opening amidst adversity and budget cuts, here are five favorite PVD-area stage productions, 2025

Cibber-Vanbrugh’s The Provok’d Husband, a comedy about an extravagant wife, was a huge success in Newport. And Nicholas Rowe’s brooding The Tragedy of Jane Shore, inspired by the life of the mistress of Edward IV, drew standing-room only...

RI Video Roundup

We asked Motif’s resident video production supervisor to recommend some locally grown vids that made his year: 1. Dawn the Duck You may think you have a robust social life, but just know that there's a duck...

Read Locally: Top book picks by RI authors

By Steven R. Porter Rhode Island is known nationwide for its vibrant arts community. But the state’s published authors, despite their talent and success, are too often an afterthought. The year 2025 saw an absolute cornucopia...

COUNTDOWN TO THE LAST TEN BEST PINTS OF 2025

  The holidays, over the years, have changed. This may be true for you as well. As a toddler most of us have followed family traditions. My late sister and I would wait for my father...

Roots Report

Heather Rose in Clover Okee dokee folks… If you listen to music enough you can always find lines in a song or whole songs that relate to the world around you. Lately I have been elder-Ubering...

Subterranean Jungle: Hol-i-dazes Best of 2025 

Crash Space It’s that time of year where every asshat wants to spew their “Best of whatever year” list like someone out in the ether really gives a flying fart. These lists can be dumb, but...

Predictions for 2026 Include Increasing Crises: US pushing the envelope of political and economic instability

I am not optimistic in the short term, but I am in the long term. I’ve watched the country go through terrible upheavals, back to the Vietnam War and the election of Richard Nixon as...

Are you Penguin or Polar Bear?: A 2026 Polar Plunge Guide

It's coming to the point in the year where we all announce resolutions that we don’t keep. So why not start with one that’s easy too? Albeit, it might take a small act of bravery....

What Are You Doing New Years?: New Years Eve Celebrations

Every year there is the great debate; Should I remain home and watch the ball drop in my Care Bear jammies, or should I open my horizons by bringing in the new year with style...

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 issue. “I try to process...

Solar Aurora Possible Mon Night: May see G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm

At Providence, solar aurora may be visible overnight Mon into Tue and, to a lesser extent, Tue into Wed. Aurora is unusual at latitudes this far south, but it typically happens a few times every...

Warming Centers Save Lives: Local facilities open for protection during extreme cold

Even normal winter conditions can be life-threatening to anyone without proper hats, clothes, and footwear, but extreme conditions are life-threatening for anyone outside of heated shelter. According to the RI Department of Environmental Management, the interior...

Roots Report: Holy daze

Okee dokee folks… People apparently totally gloss over Thanksgiving now, not that I care. I am a vegetarian and the ritual slaughter of turkeys for holidays has always bothered me. The fact that my ears...

In the Stars: What to expect for the 2025 Winter Solstice

You don’t need to be a card reader or clairvoyant to know that the world is in an uproar. When the slower moving outer planets are in play the world moves and changes. And when...

Thank God For Thank God For Science

In an era of content slop, pseudo-art, and AI, Thank God For Science is a breath of fresh air — proof that there are still art-weirdos out there who value creativity over commercial appeal. To...

Resonant Oscillations: Lost in a metaphysical hex with doom pioneers Earth

After paving a distorted pathway in the early ’90s with three albums on Sub Pop Records, the band Earth — bearing a name chosen in homage to Black Sabbath’s original moniker — marked their emergence...

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