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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...
Commuters getting off at the new Pawtucket/Central Falls train station after a long day of work or studies don’t have to go far to enjoy uniquely crafted cocktails/mocktails and low-toned conversations at the new home of Rhode Island Spirits. Now residing among the renovated mills and warehouses on the corner of Bayley and Commerce Streets, […]
On Saturday, April 15, a vast array of curious and eager modern humans gathered in the lobby of the Providence Public Library for the most fun interruption of “Tax Day” PVD has seen in about 450 million years. Eli Nixon, Pawtucket-based artist and activist, was in full-public-spectaculah form as they revealed the culmination of their […]
Leading up to our 2023 Bartender Awards in July, we are going to have monthly live competitions. These will take place at a different local venue each month. You don’t have to be nominated for anything else, you can just take part. Participation is first-come, first-served. Depending on the competition, the number of entrants may be […]
Welcome to Motif Magazine’s 2023 Tattoo Awards! This year Steven Tefft & Bettysioux Tailor bring Rhody After Dark to celebrate the most creative in ink art. Special Thanks to Narragansett Brewery for hosting & Sponsoring, and to our other Sponsors: R1 Indoor Karting & Mother Earth Wellness for making it all possible. Thanks also to […]
So does anyone remember that internet story where Disney tried to trademark the word “princess?” I’ll bet the remaining members of royalty in Europe had some interesting things to say on that notion, and I’d give actual money to hear what those things were. But this is just an example of how sometimes it’s not […]
Vudu Sister have never been afraid to conjure spirits to spur creativity. Over the course of three albums they have dabbled in dark styles of goth, ghost folk, and indie grunge. Heck, they even have an EP, Burnt Offerings, that is entirely in Latin. Recently Vudu Sister’s singer-songwriter Keith McCurdy took the plunge of quitting […]
We danced the dance of summer love,Stolen glances on the ferry,The not-so coincidental strolls up the beachwhen I wished for you to appear,and you did.Tideline chats,so charged by the ions of the crashing wavesthat I thought I would combust.Each time you were near,the desperation of wanting to taste you grew.I remember the lambent light when […]
OPEN A new business called Archery Games has opened up in Olneyville at 40 Sonoma Court, PVD. Billed as combat archery, it is an interesting twist on dodgeball, but played with bows and soft, foam-tipped arrows. If you can dodge a wrench, hopefully you can dodge an arrow. archerygamespvd.com Some West Side residents may take […]
Okee dokee folks… We at Motif are going to start printing two issues per month again and I am excited! So much so, I cannot wait, so I am going to warm up to the two issue quota by writing a few extra online columns, starting with this one. Last week I attended two great […]
The historic John Hunt House is steeped in local history. Next to Hunt’s Mill Park in East Providence, the site features guided tours in period garb, gardens, an in-house museum and a gallery room as well as housing the East Providence Historical Society. It’s open to the public on the second Sunday of each month. […]
