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...
You can’t make a good drink without proper skill and technique, and these bartending skills are tested in the Speed Rack competition, which pits bartenders from all around the country against each other in a fun competition. Rhode Island’s own Leishla Maldonado competed in this all-female competition this month in Boston, after months of training. I […]
My original pitch to the hardworking, hard thinking, patient editor and publisher of Motif went like this: “Millennial drinking habits are different!” They were intrigued, but, really, why should we care about the idea of Millennial drinking habits being so different from the drinking generations preceding them? Because, drinking readers, these things impact beverage production, […]
The Community Players present the “heavenly” musical, Forever Plaid, April 13-22. Singing group “The Plaids,” played by Nick Mercurio, Joe Catanzaro, Dan Thompson and Matt Fagan, recreate the close harmony of their idols: The Four Freshmen, The Hi-Lo’s and The Crew Cuts, and soon start rehearsing their music together. The group’s 1950s songs include “Three Coins […]
Cruisin’ for a Love Phillipe and Jorge rarely see eye-to-eye with Pope Frankie of the Vatican, except to acknowledge that he is indeed a member of the Catholic faith and that bears do continue to defecate with regularity in the woods. Despite Frankie’s continuing the tradition of swanning around the globe in red slippers and […]
Elizabeth Yeampierre’s words about climate change could aptly be applied to systemic racism. “I think it is all overwhelming,” she said, at a talk titled From Puerto Rico to Rhode Island: Raising Voices for Climate Justice. “We need to respect that what is happening right now is the manifestation of years and years […]
Aries: With the arrival of spring, you feel rejuvenated. You’re ready for action as you enter the spotlight. With Mercury retrograde in your sign, be wary of blurting something out before thinking it through. You aim is to help, not hurt. At the New Moon when Mercury goes direct, your thoughts will be clearer and you […]
Each March, journalists and freedom of information advocates mark Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week, so named because of the Sunshine Act, celebrates freedom of information and encourages communities to understand the public’s right to government information. It is celebrated through activities and events, which are often hosted by nonprofits, libraries and news organizations. In the Sunshine Act, passed […]
BARTENDER PROFILES 1. Audrey King Troop PVD a. How did you get into bartending? I began bartending at Foxwoods, of all places. While it was a crazy and fun environment, it wasn’t exactly the type of bartending I wanted to be doing. It involved making a lot of appletinis and chocolate martinis with chocolate syrup […]
School of Rock (SOR) has opened its doors at 1270 Mineral Spring Ave in North Providence. The Attleboro-based music school franchise is all about helping students develop their musical abilities and learn how to thrive as a member of a band. SOR North Providence offers a collaborative learning experience complete with private lessons and rock […]
People are dying to get into this In an interesting juxtaposition, April 14 is also Historic Cemetery Restoration / Awareness Day. It’s a grave holiday, and if you want to get your headstone on, you can join Cranston Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Alan Fung to clean up the Oakland Cemetery at 1569 Broad St, Cranston […]
