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...

GREASE

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...

Between Worlds with Sheila Isham: Resurrecting the American abstract expressionist at the Newport Art Museum

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...

Stuff to Do

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 […]

Read More

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, […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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, […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

Sleighing Christmas Stereotypes: Dear Santa Book Review

Dear Santa compiles five stories that are told through poetic letter writing between Santa and various characters that took the time to initiate a written correspondence with him. All of the characters have different reasons for writing to him, all based around what he can’t/should/shouldn’t do for them leading up to and including Christmas Eve. […]

Read More

Little to no accumulation from first snow of the 2021-2022 season

At Providence, precipitation is likely today (Wed) 1:00pm through tomorrow (Thu) 3:00am, beginning as rain and possibly changing to snow or rain-snow mix after 5:00pm. Warm temperatures several degrees above freezing should prevent accumulation until at least 11:00pm, with some potential for a fraction of an inch before ending, but the most likely scenario is […]

Read More

The Pro-Life Self-Defeating Legal Trap: Be careful what you wish for

What happens if the US Supreme Court overturns the half-century of precedent on abortion? I discussed that in some detail three years ago (“News Analysis: What Happens if Roe v. Wade is Overturned?”, by Michael Bilow, Feb 20, 2019), and that article was updated when the Reproductive Privacy Act took effect on June 19, 2019, […]

Read More