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You've Still Got a Friend: Theater by the Sea presents a rousing world premiere tribute
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...
They didn’t strike, they picketed: Local librarians find a new way to educate the public.
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...
Flickers 44: Celebrating film from around the world and right here in the Ocean State
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...
Welcome to the Neighborhood: RI’s Newest Black-Operated Museum
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...
Lawn Beers to Harvest Cheers: Summer's Last Pours to Autumn's Fresh Taps
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...
Fall Happenings Map
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...
Roots Report
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...
YourFriendM00n Wants You to Know You’re Not Alone
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...
Art Focused Forum
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...
In Their Own Words: 2026
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...
ecoRI News Roundup
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...
ON THE COVER: Nicholas "Niko" Tolentino
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...
No Concert is an Island
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...
Tatting at the Convention Center
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,...
Arts Focus Forum
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...
Heat Advisory Thu–Fri: Dangerous heat indices up to 100°F expected
Heat Advisory in effect from August 6, 11:00 AM EDT until August 7, 08:00 PM EDT At Providence, a Heat Advisory is effective Thu, Aug 6, 11am, to Fri, Aug 7, 8pm. Afternoon temperatures/heat indices are...
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...
Stuff to Do
Pin-up: Kayleigh Speck
Do you have a nickname? I’m not sure why, but a lot of people have called me Kay-Bird my whole life. What’s your biggest pet peeve? People who are insensitive or just mean. What do you never leave home without? My Leatherman and pink lipstick. Strange combo… What’s your current occupation? Bar manager at The […]
The Lyft Life
The service industry is changing before our very eyes, and “disruption” is the buzzword of the hour. In the past few years, so-called “sharing economy” companies have been making billions by cutting out the middleman. The transportation services Uber and Lyft are perhaps most synonymous with the movement, but it’s not just ride-sharing; through Airbnb, […]
Alt-Nation: Revival! 2015 and Last Good Tooth
The Columbus Collective celebrates three years of the Revival of the Columbus Theatre with a mammoth party featuring a mix of both national and local acts from the genres of folk and Americana with even a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll. Since the Columbus reopened in November 2012 as a music venue, it has […]
Freelancing: Rising Creative Trend
As permanent employment in some fields shifts by employer choice to temporary and even outsourced workers, a complementary movement toward freelancing by employee choice is gaining strength in the creative fields. A simple web search will trivially turn up a plethora of articles with similar titles: “World’s 5 Best Freelance Websites 2015,” “10 Most Popular […]
Hustle Down to Granite Theatre to Catch Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Renaissance City Theatre‘s production of the popular musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, now playing at Granite Theatre in Westerly, is a hilarious all-singing, all-dancing gem of a show. Based on the successful 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels boasts a script chock-a-block full of raunchy jokes penned by TV writer Jeffrey […]
An Artist’s Economy
So, what’s it like to be an artist in Rhode Island? I had the great fortune to speak with four artists who have taken the plunge and made their craft a livelihood, and it was eye-opening and inspiring to hear their stories. I set out to discuss economics with them, but found the resounding theme […]
The Roots Report: Bill Maher Comes to Town
Okee dokee folks … I, like many, am a fan of stand-up comedy, though the style that I prefer has more of an intellectual edge — stuff that really makes you think. George Carlin and Bill Hicks were masters of this. Nowadays, it seems we get more truth from comedians — like Jon Stewart and […]
A Six-Pack of Brew News
Here’s some beer-soaked info you need to know: • Narragansett’s next special release will be Big Mamie Indestructible American Pale Ale. The beer shares the nickname of the USS Massachusetts, the battleship that fired the first and last shells of World War II, and honors the 50th anniversary of Mamie’s debut as a museum ship […]
Ask the Stars
Taurus asks: “What is the best approach to handling a friend I care about, but brings a lot of negativity into my life?” There are a couple of issues going on here. First, you and your personality. You are a Taurus, a fixed sign that does not change easily. Taurus is a sign that is […]