Photo by Dave Cantelli. Ever rummaged through your spouse’s sweater drawer expecting to find argyles, yet instead stumbling across a secret fetish so utterly demented that it immediately sent you bolting toward a new life? Deftly...
Rachael Warren as Clare. Photo by Mark Turek. If there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, The Getaway Driver at Trinity Repertory Company is it. The world premiere of the two-person play...
Photo by Jesse Dufault. Hark, spectators of the realm! If thy soul doth hunger for a "reverent irreverence" turning a 77-seat black box into a roaring arena of wretched romance, get thee to the Burbage Theatre...
RI Music Hall of Fame plaque honoring Rudy Cheeks/The Fabulous Motels/The Young Adults. (Photo: Michael Bilow) Much has already been written on the passing Sep 18 at age 76 of Bruce McCrae, who used the stage name...
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...
With the increasing cost of healthcare and the prevalence of chronic disease in the United States, it’s really no surprise that many people have decided to take their health into their own hands and look for better alternatives to modern Western medicine. Science has proven that cannabis is an excellent option; it’s natural, effective and has […]
While the current administration crows about the ACA’s natural death while holding a pillow firmly over its face, we here at Motif work to ensure the old girl gets a little air. Yes, the (shortened) open enrollment period has ended. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck ’til next year. There are certain qualifications and life […]
Rhode Island has been a sanctuary state since 2014, when then-Governor Lincoln Chafee made the official declaration. If you Google the words “Providence Sanctuary City,” you’ll see a host of conflicting information, but this is mostly based on how one defines a sanctuary city. If, like Trump, you define it as a place that harbors […]
I was browsing Facebook when an ad caught my eye: “Crohn’s Study – Diagnosed Volunteers Needed.” Crohn’s Disease is incurable, and it can make a patient’s life a living hell. I have it. I was intrigued, so I clicked on the link. The link took me to the trialsworld.com site, which is a patchwork quilt […]
In light of the recent spate of suicides by successful white men, we step beyond the shock to investigate what it means to be white and how our invented construct of race has left society proscribing unnatural expectations that can prove fatal. Forgive me Society, for I have sinned. Born of Caucasian stock, I have […]
Food and water borne illnesses have been killing humans since the beginning of humanity. Sometimes it feels as if humans are under assault by their food supply. Most microbes do us no harm, and are often critical to our survival. Some strains, however, are dangerous for humans and other forms of life, and others only become dangerous […]
For those who knew Ben Lloyd as a younger man, his career as the owner/chef of Providence’s warm and welcoming Salted Slate may come as a bit of a surprise. It’s not the occupation most would predict for a University of Scranton grad who dual majored in biology and chemistry. Yet while simultaneously working for Liberty […]
Pt 1: Going Bye Bye There’s yet another controversy in the White House as the president stormed out of a meeting designed to reverse the ongoing government shutdown. Wearing the latest in presidential diapers, the Little Emperor-in-Chief threw a tantrum when his babysitters, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, stuck by their refusal to allow him to […]
The majority of indigenous cultures across the Americas have long been highly skilled arable farmers, and it was among these societies that vegetal breeding and domestication was first discovered, as well as the cultivation of plants for an array of medical purposes still in use today. In RI, 14,000 years of knowledge is still in […]
“Trans” is a wide-ranging umbrella term that applies to numerous identities: transgender, gender non-conforming/variant/creative, non-binary, genderqueer, intersex and others. It’s a wide spectrum enriched every day as we learn more about human gender and sexuality. If you identify as the gender you were assigned at birth, you are cisgender. It can also be defined as […]
