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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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!...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
“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...
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...
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...
Cranston Raffa Real Food, 19 Sharpe Dr, Cranston* Cumberland Blackstone Herbs + Coffee Bar, 3 Dexter St (at Broad St), Cumberland East Greenwich P.B. Bistro, 241 Main St, East Greenwich* Middletown Plant City X, 619 West Main Rd, Middletown Sprout and Lentil, 796 Aquidneck Ave Unit 3, Middletown Newport Root, 6 Broadway, Newport Pawtucket Garden […]
Cliff Vanover has long been interested in the natural world. For decades, he has enjoyed hiking in and near Rhode Island, especially where he can observe evidence of glacial geology. As the proprietor of Great Swamp Press, based in southern RI, he writes and publishes maps and guides for walking and biking that are regarded […]
Plein Air Pawtucket is the centerpiece of the Pawtucket Arts Festival. During the weekend of September 10, 12 artists will set up their canvases along a 1.25-mile walking tour that takes visitors to the Pawtucket Falls, Slater Mill, the library, the armory and along the Blackstone River. According to Plein Air Pawtucket founder Nick Paciorek, […]
More than 4,800 of you voted, and the winners of the 2021 RI Music Awards are in! Thanks to the over 230 people came to celebrate and enjoy Fête Music Hall’s drinks and Haven Brothers’ hearty eats. The event kicked off, in music awards tradition, with an inspiring performance by future rock stars from the […]
September is a big month in Rhode Island for vegans, vegetarians and anyone plant-curious, and I’m going to break down the vegan events you can expect this month. VEG OUT: Vegan Eats and Treats! hosted by RI Food Fights: This month-long event will allow veteran vegans and the plant-curious to explore Rhode Island’s huge and […]
When I told my boyfriend I was doing a Chimi Crawl, he responded as would most Americans raised on Taco Bell: “I love chimichangas!” And while there’s much to love about a deep fried burrito, that’s not what I was talking about. I meant a chimichurri crawl, not to be confused with the South American […]
It’s been a wild year and a half with lots of misinformation and unnecessary violence, including the horrifying rise in hate crimes against people of Asian descent. Misunderstanding, misplaced blame and anger have showed the ugliest side of many people in this country. That’s why I chose to create a cocktail that would highlight just […]
As more and more people recognize the health benefits of not drinking (sorry guys — it’s delicious but not good for you), the mocktail revolution gains momentum every year. So whether you’re the DD, doing Sober September, or done with alcohol for good – your options are more vast than ever. Where to Go I […]
This column is for non-sports fans who would like some enlightenment and hopefully humor without being sports fanatics. “Who needs Tom Brady? We’ve got Cam Newton!” Trust me, those are words you are never going to hear from a New England Patriots’ fan, no matter how die-hard they are. Now that it appears Newton will […]
As the proverbial sun sets on summer in New England, there’s a certain calm in the air. The rhythmic “thwap” of damp towels swaying in the breeze while slung over decks and porch ledges will soon be replaced with the sounds of school buses motoring by and “Happy Halloween!” being sung in unison door to […]
