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...

NecronomiCon Comes to Providence

The NecronomiCon is a biennial celebration of the works of HP Lovecraft and beyond, and throughout the genre of “weird fiction.” Centered in downtown Providence, it boasts four days of literary panels, readings from various...

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...

Rhode's Clothes: Part 3 - A Strut Down Memory Lane

As an international student a year into Rhode Island, yet still only a breath into America, I finally found a question that I might be able to answer – this is my continued exploration of: What...

Discover Providence's Hidden Gem: Siren Spirits in Olneyville

Tucked inside the historic Harrison Steam Complex in Providence's Olneyville neighborhood, Siren Spirits is redefining what a visit to a distillery can be. Equal parts neighborhood gathering place, cocktail destination, and craft spirits experience, this...

Crank Up The Music -- It Makes Me Hoppy

Music makes beer taste better? In 2016, Vrije University in Brussels, Belgium, conducted a study that showed scientific evidence that music has an impact on our taste of beer. This study concluded that lower audible...

Roots Report

Cold Chocolate. Okee dokee folks… Well, summer is here and for me, summer is HELL! A few years back I wrote a song about my disdain of Summer for the Empire Revue’s “Cool” show. Here are...

Small Habits That Can Lead to Big Financial Rewards

America, the focus of this issue, runs on wealth. So here’s how to get yourself some. It’s the perfect opportunity to launch a new column aimed at helping non-one-percenters with financial matters. Feel free to...

Liberty Trees Map

...

Corralled at the Blood Farm: The rise of the uniquely American plasma industry

“Foreigner.” I find it a harsh word that I hate seeing applied to others. Yet applied to myself, it’s the only word that half conveys how baffling I find this country at times. I’d like...

On the Cover: William Schaff

In his final year at college, cover artist William Schaff truly learned what it was like to work in a studio. “I developed a course of study in general fine arts with one of my...

Next to Normal at Trinity Rep: Intensity shines

Rachael Warren as Diana. Photo by Mark Turek. The Next to Normal audience is exposed to waves of raw emotions drowning your soul and dampening your eyes. You may wish you had premedicated with any of...

Spoken Award Winner Writeups

Blaq Sav. Photos by Lillian MK Photography. Favorite Free Verse Spoken Word 2026 Ashley Hosa Sending out a big congrats to Ashley Hosa, who came to the Spoken Awards with a multitude of wonderful supporters (shoutout to Ryan!)....

Obituary: Julian Forgue

The founder of the long-standing hipster-ish West Side restaurant Julians hadn’t been involved directly with the restaurant in quite some time. But his legacy persisted. A larger-than-life personality, you never knew at what event Julian...

Obituary: Lisa Gourley

Renowned supporter of local music and arts Lisa Gourley (Sometimes Lisa Gourleyx) passed away on June 15. Reading reactions on social media, you can’t help but notice how often the words “nice,” “kind,” and “photography”...

Summer Solstice

This beautiful Solstice moment, June 21, 2026 brings the winds of change into our lives. The pivotal points among the planetary movers and shakers of the Zodiac find Gemini, with Uranus and Ceres, reaching across...

2026 Tattoo Awards Photos

By Olivia Lunger By Lillian MK Photography ...

2026 Tattoo Awards Winners

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...

Stuff to Do


In Their Own Words: Write-In Candidate Greg Ferland for State Rep, District 31

WhMotiif: at’s the biggest problem facing our state? Greg Ferland: Really? Just ONE? Okay … if it’s just one it’d be fiscal mismanagement. Motif: Rank these in order of how much they impact children’s education: nutrition in schools, infrastructure, school culture/learning environment, adequate supplies, teacher incentives. How would you address these aspects of education? Greg […]

Read More

Taking the Stage: Moderate gubernatorial candidate Bill Gilbert gets to the universal truths

At the most recent gubernatorial debate held at The University of Rhode Island Kingston campus, presented by The Providence Journal and The Public’s Radio, Moderate Party candidate Bill Gilbert made his first prominent appearance before a statewide audience. Appealing to be recognized as “the only adult in the room,” Gilbert received applause from the diverse […]

Read More

Got Beer? Want to Know a Secret? One sip of Proclamation’s homage, and all will be revealed

For the third year in a row, Altered Reality Entertainment has partnered with a local brewery to create the official beer of Rhode Island Comic Con. The previous two incarnations were produced by Bucket Brewery of Pawtucket, but since their unfortunate demise, the malt-masters at Proclamation stepped in. The result of this partnership is the soon-to-be-released Secret […]

Read More

Chef’s Corner: It Does a Body Good: Milk Money executive and sous chefs talk turkey

With a menu that features deviled eggs and ranges from patatas bravas to dhal, you can expect no lack of flavor when you dine at Milk Money. Executive chef, William Lehman, and Milk Money’s sous chef, who for confidentiality wants to be referred to as @grumblesthacook, make sure of that. Lehman began cooking at age 16, then took […]

Read More

In Their Own Words: RI senate and gubernatorial candidates talk about their plans for the state

We asked the following questions of candidates running for RI governor and senator in the upcoming November elections. This is part two of a two-part series; read part one here: motifri.com/pvdmayors. Respondents in the gubernatorial race were Luis-Daniel Munoz (I) and Bill Gilbert (M). Respondents in the senate race were Sheldon Whitehouse (D) and Bob Flanders (R). Any editing was […]

Read More

Keep on Movin’: Flavors of the Fall: And not one of them is cinnamon

The Bendays – Dots Dots is the dapper debut album from The Bendays, a side project from RI rocker Andy Davis. Released under Davis’ own label, Submodern, the record is a collection of impassioned, organic songs that seem a bit more off-the-cuff than those of his main gig, Pixels. The album doesn’t take itself too seriously, […]

Read More

Phillipe & Jorge’s Cool, Cool World: The Suspense Is … Nonexistent: Your superior correspondents make a few election predictions

Same Old, Same Old Unfortunately, Little Rhody’s election of statewide office holders on November 6 has less suspense than a Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew detective novel.  Thank all gods for term limits so we don’t have to stage this type of embarrassment in 2022. The state’s Republican Party has become the longest running joke in […]

Read More

AltFacts: Stranger Than Fiction: Rolling back civil rights and civility from the White (Only) House

Well I’ll Be … Body Slammed Pussy grabbing, dehumanizing and now body slamming. Yes, in the latest social directive to come out of the nation’s decaying capital, the president appeared to defend congressman Greg Gianforte of Montana who physically assaulted a British journalist in May 2017. Pontificating at a MAGA rally in Big Sky Country at […]

Read More