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...
RI Rambles The RI Foundation had its big annual shindig May 24, celebrating giving, its wide base of philanthropists and the good they do for the RI community. If you haven’t heard of the RI Foundation, it’s quietly grown over decades to be the largest foundation for donations and public support in the state. Over […]
Ready for some carnival-style fun this summer? You’re in luck! The popular ice bumper cars that graced the Alex and Ani City Center this winter will transform into traditional bumper cars this summer, and it’s definitely something to get excited about. We spoke with John Rotatori, the general manager from Alex and Ani Center about the opening […]
The Cable Car Cinema, most recently owned by Daniel Kamil and Emily Steffian, is closing its doors after a 42-year run, and here, members of the area creative community share some tributes. Richard Manning, former co-director for the French Film Festival and retired film archivist for modern culture and media at Brown University, reminds us […]
As a new dad, and a stay-at-home dad, I’ve discovered that life with a baby is a whole new world of wonder, amazement, pride and limitless new challenges that otherwise would only exist in the fever dreams of a gibbering lunatic. But even though I’ve only been a dad for a relatively short time, I thought […]
2018 has held very few changes in RI weather. From January to March we got “constant, unforgiving snowstorms,” and as we all know, this year, on account of the cold, April’s name was changed to “This-cannot-be-goddamn-April.” But we are finally — finally — rounding a corner. The days were you can saunter down Thayer Street in […]
You’re sitting in a canoe in the middle of a river surrounded by trees and dark, cool water full of living things like water lilies, a flock of floating geese, fish and bugs. The sky is bright and blue. You look around and something feels off. You can’t see a street or a car. […]
Who wouldn’t want to rappel down a 12-story building if they had a chance? Turns out, a lot of people wouldn’t, but when I first saw the notice about the Providence Community Libraries (PCL) Over The Edge fundraiser, it was a no-brainer for me. It sounded like great motivation to get in shape for the summer, […]
You Bet Your Life With the door opened now for legal sports betting, The Urinal did an excellent piece on why illegal betting with bookies will not end. The reason is that bookies will allow you to run up a tab, with exceptional interest, or “the vig,” whereas legal betting will require cash in hand […]
Last fall, I accompanied my son on a hike with his Cub Scout pack in the woods of the Arcadia Management Area. Boys in blue and tan uniforms led the way while parents followed and observed from close behind. The night before, my son and I flipped through his Cub Scout Bear Handbook for info […]
For classical music lovers, there are some great events to look forward to over the next few months. Here’s what’s on tap for summer 2018: The 2018 Music On The Hill festival presents seven concerts of chamber music from June 2 to 10 at various locations throughout the state, including Cranston, Warwick and Westerly. For […]
