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...
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...
On Thursday, February 22, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium was host to a rousing performance by The Gershwin Big Band, an ensemble dedicated entirely to the music of the late, great American composer George Gershwin. This well-attended event was presented as part of FirstWorks’ Artistic Icons Series and gave a captivated audience a glimpse at some […]
You might be familiar with the Venus flytrap or Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, but how well do you know Nepenthes rajah? This carnivorous plant gets its name from the Greeks. Loosely translated, it means ‘no pain’ and references a drug Helen of Troy gave to Telemachus, son of Odysseus, forcing him to forget […]
“Do you want a squiggle?” said Alex Cirillo to my 4-year-old son Tucker, offering him a length of bright red ribbon. He regarded her calmly and silently, but his little fists were balled up in a gesture of defiance I know so well. My son is not a joiner and was still a little mad […]
It might still be too cold to ride the Newport ferry, but that doesn’t mean that a trip to this charming beach town isn’t worth a go. Newport is famous for its beautiful sights and attractions, and even if the beach isn’t quite ready yet, there’s plenty that nature has in store for the springtime. […]
Who else could use a vacation? Preferably somewhere warm and tropical, where you don’t have to negotiate tough trade agreements and the relic hunters are actually hot con artists… Wait, where have I seen this before? Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not just a beer nerd, so when I discovered that Schmaltz brewing […]
Thank God for spring. I don’t mean that as an insult to winter. I have no beef. If not for winter, I wouldn’t appreciate spring so much. How’s that for a New England sentiment? But these days, these times, I need a big ‘ole warm spring hug. Used to be, I’d pause and smile […]
1. Sunday, March 4: O Say Can You Sing?; 11am to 3pm; Free; All ages; The Warwick Mall. There’s something for everyone at the Warwick Mall, and on this occasion, we have local singers auditioning to sing the national anthem at this season’s upcoming Pawtucket Red Sox games. With Fergie’s recent “alternative” rendition of the song, the […]
This past winter has been a weird one; the weather has been both mild and cruel. But one thing that’s kept us moving through the cruel periods is music. Artists never stop touring, but spring is the most rewarding of the seasons as the temperatures trend upward, which only enhances the experience. To begin the […]
What’s the best thing about spring? We are that much closer to summer and the beach! What do you do to help protect the environment? I never forget to recycle! What’s your favorite movie? Dirty Dancing What’s your favorite TV show? “Game of Thrones” What’s your biggest pet peeve? An audience that doesn’t show the […]
Never Again is the name of the current populist movement to address school shootings. Their focus is on banning the sale of semi-automatic weapons to the public, although better ways of addressing mental illness and school safety are also included. This is not our first school shooting – nor our 20th — in recent years. What’s […]
