By Olivia Lunger By Lillian MK Photography ...
Favorite Color Tattoo Evan Olin, Powerline Tattoo Runner-up: Luis Bold, Unicorn Ink Favorite Black & Gray Ryan Dowden, Dark Ritual Runner-up: Luis Bold, Unicorn Ink Favorite Black & Gray with Color Steven McDonough, Secret Safe Tattoo Runner-up: Rachel WS, Rachel WS Fine Art...
By Lillian MK Photography By Olivia Lunger ...
Photo by Lillian MK Photography. Favorite Free Verse Spoken Word Ashley HosaRunner-up: Jeff Daniellian Favorite Social Justice Spoken Word Erik AndradeRunner-up: Mx Asher Favorite Youth Poet Angel CruzRunner-up: (by one vote) Josselyn Wolf Favorite Poetry Event Apothica's Monthly Poetry NightRunner-up: Afroverse Favorite...
Congratulations, you survived the record-breaking Blizzard of 2026. With the anticipated arrival of clear skies and warm temps, how will you be spending your well-earned, much-needed downtime this summer? If you’re adventurous, you could explore some of...
Artwork by Bob Eggleton. Godzilla has been a cinematic icon for over 70 years. However, there are important themes around the monster that have gotten lost with international audiences. There is no gigantic monster that has had...
Tie-dye by Spun Laundry. BEACHES Atlantic Beach Park: Family beach, amusements, kiddy rides, snack bars, antique 1915 carousel, batting cages, bumper boats, go-carts, mini golf, game room, waterslides, gift shop, beachware and an ocean-view cocktail lounge. 321...
Photos by Lillian Karboski. Every time you listen to a song, there is always something more than the words or catchy melody. On Friday, May 1, right in the heart of downtown Providence, an extraordinary group...
Okee dokee folks… Rising costs of everything is what’s on my mind this month. It really should be on everyone’s mind. The main things I will talk about here are gasoline and concert tickets. One...
Photo: Christopher Mongeau. Ravi Shavi, a band that has been around since 2011 and started as a moniker for Rafay Rashid’s music project, has evolved and become more rooted in its creative approach and performance, as...
“Can I go to X?” is the question 2 Feet 2 Bucks has answered with “Yes” dozens of times, where X = place worth going out of your way to, to take a walk, short...
Artist of the Year: Favorite Song: Favorite Music Video: NOVA ONE; "chlorine" by NOVA ONE; "chlorine" - NOVA ONE (Dir. Frankie Ferrari) nova one: “nova won!” Providence’s own nova one won (!!) four 2026 Motif Music Awards: “artist...
Photo by Matthew Murphy. The North American tour of Disney’s The Lion King last played the Providence Performing Arts Center in 2017. After nearly ten years, The Lion King is back astounding Providence for a limited...
“Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). This is the core theme behind William Shakespeare's darkest comedy, Measure for Measure, one of Shakespeare’s most exciting, underperformed and underappreciated plays, currently presented by Burbage...
Smithfield, RI: A town known for its forests, trails, ponds, and well, wealth. An unlikely location for a potential AI-Data Center, one may think. Yet, this rural community, despite data center construction being illegal under...
This is the story of visiting Providence’s newest Rotisserie and Bistro, Thermia, and being so intrigued by its menu and feeling so welcomed by the staff, that I went twice in one week! To give...
Check out extensive listings for every show we could find this season. But some are bigger or just fundamentally represent summer in our eclectic, hyperactive, tiny-yet-overachieving state. Here’s a selection of special events to keep...
“Industry wants us to believe the sky will fall if there’s reform," said Council President Rachel Miller. "But for working families, the sky is already falling..." Council President Rachel Miller (Ward 13) “In front of you is...
The eggplant piece featured on the cover of Motif is the first completed work in Chenlu Hou’s Garden series, making it a perfect fit for this issue’s theme of Summer. A low-fire terracotta sculpture, airbrushed and...
[See prior update: motifri.com/iran-war-update-01] The Iran war cannot continue as it is for much longer, and this is a result of simple math. Time is running out for energy and food supply US Consumer Price Index for All...
Voting is now closed -- Join us to see who was selected Wednesday, May 276 – 10pmMyrtle, East Providence Join us for the 4th annual Motif Spoken Awards! We are excited to be returning to Myrtle to celebrate RI’s spoken word...
Ann Morrison and Marcus Phillips in the National Tour of KIMBERLY AKIMBO. Photo by Joan Marcus KIMBERLY AKIMBO is a musical with a lot of heart, a lot of wit, and a lot of rave reviews...
Processed with VSCO with 6 preset When Steve DelMonico (vocals/guitar) approached John Faraone (drums) with an impossibly unique band name, there was no way of knowing that 10 years later they’d be sitting at Nolan’s with...
Photo: Dave Rezendes. John Faraone: a man of many bands, many instruments, and one poetic voice. While John wouldn’t call himself a poet, I certainly believe that his lyrics are simply stanzas waiting to be printed....
Photo by James Brooks. Okee dokee folks… I have referenced the Jethro Tull song, “Too Old to Rock & Roll, Too Young to Die,” A few times in my 22 years of writing for Motif, and...
(Photo credit: Keith J.G. McCurdy, from the cover art of Vudu Sister’s Adynata; photograph of the art installation LO SGUARDO - Humanitas - Physis by sculptor Igor Mitoraj at the Neopolis Archaeological Park of Siracusa...
Mount Pleasant. Elmhurst. The Valley Arts District. These are all neighborhoods whose offerings I thought I knew well, having worked in and around Providence over the last few years. But you can certainly miss a...
Buddy Mott. Once upon a time, if you wanted a tattoo, one of the things you could do was traipse to Newport from any of the four corners of the world and get yourself a tattoo...
The actual declaration of Independence was first proclaimed to the people of Newport from this building in July 1776. (Photo by Maureen O'Gorman) It doesn't take long for a person new to Rhode Island to find...
The RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced a major initiative to repair potholes caused by a harsh winter. A new Pothole Service Requests Dashboard site on the web – https://www.dot.ri.gov/travel/potholes.php – allows the public to...
“I’m a professional storyteller by trade, and I pretty much stopped working because of COVID,” says Mark Binder, the writer and playwright behind The Wilbury Group’s newest online offering, The Race. “Watching somebody tell a story in this [Zoom] setting is like bad TV a lot of the time.” Binder says it was the Boston-based […]
“If it’s a global issue, it’s also a local issue,” says Steven Pennell, coordinator of URI’s Urban Arts and Culture Program. Their newest exhibit is “Speaking Out — A Call To Action — The Art of Protest — Agents of Change in Rhode Island.” This exhibit, which features a number of local artists in various […]
Much to the apparent surprise of RI Department of Health (RI DoH) Director Dr Nicole Alexander-Scott, who was caught unaware on live television at her press conference at 1pm on Friday, January 28 – “RI Health Director Defends Vaccine Rollout”, Jan 28, by Michael Bilow – the City of Warwick opened a web page at […]
On Friday, January 28, the regular weekly COVID-19 press conference conducted by Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the RI Department of Health (RI DoH), was unusually chaotic. In prepared remarks that were uncharacteristically defensive for the normally diplomatic Alexander-Scott, she avoided mentioning. but tacitly addressed, recent criticism in the media for what is widely seen […]
“The pandemic had some crippling consequences; one of those consequences was that people were forced to see the shortcomings of their local and national government,” says State Representative Brianna Henries, describing the wave of progressive victories in the State House last year.Henries represents District 64 out of East Providence, an area that includes the city’s […]
Dear C and Dr. B; I am caught between a rock and a hard place, and not sure what to do. I teach at a middle school in Providence, and the disciplinary problems are pretty bad. Lots of my kids come from what I would charitably call “dysfunctional” families, with a history of criminal activity […]
When, in 1932, Rudolph Fisher’s The Conjure-Man Dies was published, the journal Opportunity called the mystery “startling in its cleverness,” predicting the protagonist, a Harlem doctor with a detective’s eye, would reappear. That year, Agathie Christie spun her investigative hero, Hercule Poirot, into a seventh book and William Faulkner’s Light in August reflected the weight […]
Governor Gina Raimondo answered questions before the US Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation committee today in a confirmation hearing that could not have gone smoother for her nomination. The Ocean State governor answered questions from Democrats and Republicans serving on the committee that ranged from broadband access, to jobs programs to net neutrality. There was […]
This was my first week teaching classes as an adjunct professor in playwriting. One of my students asked a question I’ve heard from a lot of other writers lately. “Should we write about the moment we’re in?” It can seem like one of those lose-lose situations when we talk so much about needing to remember […]
“I think every woman’s dated that guy. He’s– I can’t believe I dated him for as long as I did. That’s the thing. Every woman dates a guy like that, but I date them twice as long as anybody else does. That’s my problem. I don’t know when to call it. This one– He was […]
