PVDFest Returns This Weekend
2026 PVDFest is the can’t-miss local event this weekend; one of the biggest fests of the year for our city-state. This year reprises last year’s footprint, encompassing Kennedy Plaza with three stages and reaching out...
Grinding On: Changing gears on the espresso machine at Crook Point Brewing Company
Crook Point Brewing Company, 65 Massasoit Ave., East Providence; photo credit: Sean Carlson Over the past year, The Grind has gleamed as one of Rhode Island’s coffee gems. Set up at Crook Point Brewing Company (65...
Four Things You May Not Know About the Award-winning Comedy Musical, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Natasha Hodgson in the Broadway Company of Operation Mincemeat. Photo by Matt Crockett. The Tony Award® and Olivier Award®-winning musical launches the North American leg of its world tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center September...
You've Still Got a Friend: Theater by the Sea presents a rousing world premiere tribute
Hunter Brown, Allie Seibold, and Seth Eliser in You've Still Got a Friend, playing at Bill Hanney's Theatre By The Sea from August 20 - September 13, 2026. Photo by Michael Derr Okee dokee folks… Tonight, at Theatre By The...
They didn’t strike, they picketed: Local librarians find a new way to educate the public.
Photo by Steve Ahlquist. The unionized workers of the Community Libraries of Providence have been without a contract for two years now. Their patience, which had been wearing thin, was stretched to the breaking point by...
Flickers 44: Celebrating film from around the world and right here in the Ocean State
Photo: L-R: Pénélope Rose, Manya Glassman, Emeline Easton, and K. Elisa Garcia. by Mike Ryan. The Rhode Island International Film Festival, also known as Flickers, took place August 4 through August 9, bringing filmmakers, actors, industry...
Welcome to the Neighborhood: RI’s Newest Black-Operated Museum
I think museums and the culture around them have historically gotten a bad rap. When you think of museums, you might associate them with classism, inaccessibility, and wealthy donors and patrons. There’s also the issue...
Lawn Beers to Harvest Cheers: Summer's Last Pours to Autumn's Fresh Taps
As the leaves change to amber hues, so do fall beers. Our local brewers are excited about the opportunity to offer these loved styles of craft beer. If you are looking forward to cozy sweaters...
Fall Happenings Map
Illustration by Sadie Levine. 1. Adams Farm (pumpkins, hay rides, corn mazes) Plus: Variety fall farm stand 158 Burnt Swamp Road, Cumberland 401-714-4425 2. Appleland Orchard (apples) Plus: Cider, wine, and donuts 135 Smith Avenue, Greenville 401-949-3690 3. Barden Family Orchard (apples, pumpkins) Plus: Farmers...
Roots Report
Okee dokee folks… I just realized that I have been attending concerts for 50 years now. In that span of time I have seen countless shows. I honestly have no idea how many I have...
YourFriendM00n Wants You to Know You’re Not Alone
Moon Leone didn’t set out to make your run-of-the-mill pop songs. They build whole worlds, embodying different characters and using visuals to tell stories that ultimately help people heal from trauma. Performing as YourFriendM00n, they...
Art Focused Forum
On August 12, Motif cohosted a forum on the Arts in Providence featuring Democratic Primary Mayoral candidates Brett Smiley and David Morales. In Providence, the real election typically happens in the primary. The winner will go...
In Their Own Words: 2026
Every election cycle, Motif brings you the candidates in their own words so you can try to compare apples to apples. It’s our way of contributing to the political process while not having the fact-checking...
ecoRI News Roundup
Environmental Organizations Endorse Foulkes for Governor PROVIDENCE — The Providence Streets Coalition, a grassroots activist organization devoted to increasing funding, safety, and reliability in the state’s transit network, announced July 21 that it is backing former...
ON THE COVER: Nicholas "Niko" Tolentino
For the cover of Motif’s Fall Guide, painter and muralist Nicholas “Niko” Tolentino of Cranston drew inspiration from his childhood days, he relates in an interview at White Electric Coffee Co-Op in Providence. Roger Williams Park...
No Concert is an Island
Centerville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket hosted its first live music event in August. It started big with the Island Roads Fest, featuring popular reggae/ rock bands including Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, Iration, Action Bronson, DENM, Bumpin...
Tatting at the Convention Center
Stepping into a tattoo convention without a tattoo or an array of piercings can be intimidating, like stepping into a gallery show without reading the title first. Aside from a pair of basic ear studs,...
Arts Focus Forum
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...
MEOWS, MALTS, DOGS AND DRAFTS: Have a pint to rescue a paw
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!...
NOW IT’S OUR TURN: Local team seeks to keep up positive momentum from World Cup
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...
Boatload of music: Titanic drama
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...
2026 Tattoo Awards Gallery Wall
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...
BTS with DMK: Lily Spencer
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...
2026 Tattoo Award Winners
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...
The Long Game: River Shook Arrives Home
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...
Roots Report
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...
The Butterfly’s Shadow
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...
A Flicker of Flame
“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...
American Caesar Salad
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...
ON THE COVER: Bob Eggleton
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...
Stuff to Do
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RI app shows verifiable vaccination status: Generates trusted secure QR code
(App download links at end of article.) RI has updated and renamed its “401Health” app (previously “Crush COVID RI”) for Google Android and Apple iOS, the office of Gov. Daniel McKee announced today. The main purpose of the update is to add support for displaying the user’s vaccination record via a securely trusted QR code, […]
Snow Saturday possible, but no accumulation likely
At Providence, rain already occurring today (Sat) is likely to end tomorrow (Sun) 6:00am, with decreasing probability of any snow at all, although some mix with snow and sleet is possible around sunset in the 3:00-5:00pm time frame. Warm temperatures no lower than 35F should prevent accumulation, with some potential for a fraction of an […]
Snow Saturday possible, but no accumulation likely
This forecast has been updated: motifri.com/wx-2021-12-18-1035est At Providence, precipitation is likely today (Sat) 11:00am through tomorrow (Sun) 6:00am, beginning as rain and possibly changing to snow or rain-snow-sleet mix before changing back to rain. Warm temperatures several degrees above freezing should prevent accumulation, with some potential for a fraction of an inch before ending, but […]
Snow Saturday possible, but no accumulation likely
This forecast has been updated: motifri.com/wx-2021-12-18-0435est At Providence, precipitation is likely tomorrow (Sat) 9:00am through Sun 7:00am, beginning as rain and possibly changing to snow or rain-snow-sleet mix before changing back to rain after 3:00pm. Warm temperatures several degrees above freezing should prevent accumulation, with some potential for a fraction of an inch before ending, […]
Monoclonal Antibodies (MABS) Delays: Effective COVID-19 treatment faces logistical obstacles
Treatment with monoclonal antibodies (MABS) is recommended and authorized to keep patients who test positive for COVID-19 out of the hospital, reducing the severity of mild to moderate symptoms. The treatment is done on an outpatient basis by a one-time infusion that takes several hours. In RI, however, there is a logistical backlog on quickly […]
Omicron in RI: First patient identified
Omicron has been detected in RI, according to an announcement this afternoon from the office of Governor Daniel McKee. “The individual who tested positive is a person in their 20s who lives in Providence County and recently returned from travel in New York. The individual completed a primary vaccination series and had no record of […]
News Anxiety
Dear C and Dr. B: I am anxious and can’t sleep. I obsess over the state of the world and just how bad things have gotten. All I see is death and destruction, inhumanity, and no hope for the future. I went to a therapist and she told me the same thing as my family and nearly everyone […]
Going Bananas for Bananagrams: a word game with special RI a-peel
When Rhode Islanders think of a local game company, they think of Hasbro. But there are other Providence-based game companies that have ripened to international stature. That’s right, we are talking Bananagrams. “Bananagrams stemmed from my family’s passion for games,” said Rena Nathanson, CEO & Co-Inventor. “At the time we developed it, in the mid-2000s, […]
Extreme Makeover, Mediator Edition: The Mediator Stage gets a fresh new look
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in many closed doors. But the doors at The Mediator Stage have not only stayed open, they and the rest of the venue have been renewed, repainted, reinvigorated, and complemented with a spiffy new deck, sliders, and flooring. The Mediator’s open mic host and “music minister” Don Tassone has transformed […]