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...
We New Englanders pride ourselves on being stoic, all-weather tolerant folk, but let’s face it, drinking a Dunkin’ cold brew while shoveling your snowy driveway, which we undoubtedly do, blows. We endure some of the cruelest weather conditions and seasonal affective disorders Mother Nature throws at us to get to summer, but we are quick […]
Imagine a music festival with virtually no electricity or amplifiers, no sponsors and a resounding message of inclusivity. Imagine it’s happening right here in PVD this fall, with more than 300 brass and drum wielding musicians marching down the street. Sounds good, right? This is Pronk!, our local representation of the many honk fests that […]
Have you ever truly thought about how fortunate we are to have a variety of seasons? Sure, shoveling the driveway isn’t on the top of anyone’s to-do list, but we all look at the first serene snowfall from our frosted-up windows the same way. Likewise, while no one is likely to revel in beach traffic, […]
When it comes to assessing Providence Public Schools’ legacy issues, the recent Johns Hopkins report and the state takeover of the district, one leader equipped to provide an array of perspectives is Providence Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune. In the below excerpt from a recent interview, the Councilwoman and I dig into the bilateral/bifocal issues facing the […]
In April, PVD became the first capital in the nation to install a trash skimmer in the city’s harbor. Designed to filter the water of refuse, the apparatus is affixed to a floating dock in front of the Hot Club and picks-up trash as the current passes. And once the skimmer is filled and ready […]
Shucks! It’s already time for the fifth annual Ocean State Oyster Festival, taking place Saturday, September 21 from 1 – 7pm at Riverwalk Park on South Water Street in PVD. This year’s event will again feature delicious local food, food trucks, culinary exhibitors, local libations — including craft beer from Revival Brewing Company in Cranston […]
Picture a yard. Did well-fed grass accompanied by the drone of a lawn mower come to mind? You’re not alone. But when RI resident Jackie S. thinks about a yard, she pictures sunflowers and daylilies and hears the chirping of yellow finches, orioles and blue jays. In her yard, Jackie has created a space that […]
As an avid gamer, there is nothing I love more than introducing friends to the world of board games. For those of you who can only picture Monopoly or Dungeons and Dragons, there is an entire universe of board games in between those two extremes, with all different themes and requiring all different skill levels, […]
Open The Juice’d Cafe: This health food cafe has reopened. They’ve also opened another new location in Fall River. 190 Thames St, Newport. the juicedcafe.com Friskie Fries: The local favorite food truck turned brick-and-mortar- potato place has opened another location! This time all the way in East Bay. 404 Thames St, Newport. fb.com/Friskiefries Koto: Asian […]
Hercule Poirot fans looking to see their favorite detective onstage in the dramatic interpretation of Agatha Christie’s The Hollow may be disappointed. Christie removed the character from the stage adaptation, having tired of him (she felt his appearance “ruined” the 1946 novel). The leadup to the play’s 1951 opening was circuitous, but the eventual success […]
