RHODE ISLAND MUSIC AWARDS 2026 NOMINATIONS 

The 2026 Motif Rhode Island Music Awards are here! We are so proud to announce this year’s nominees. Rhode Island might be small, but our music community is mighty, and it is such an honor...

THE MEMORY OF WATER: Some Things Stay In Your Bones 

Photo by Jesse Dufault. Picture this: grief and laughter, absurdity and tenderness coexisting cohesively. Not easy to do, yet Burbage Theatre Company’s production of The Memory of Water adeptly captures this ephemeral equilibrium. Under the expert...

Aura’s Chocolate Bar: Sometimes, It is Love at Second Sight 

Aura never planned to fall in love with chocolate. Chocolate may not have been her first choice, but it became the obvious one for her pastry adventures. When she enrolled at Johnson & Wales University, her...

Beer Booty Calls: Single, Situationships, or True Love

 Does true love exist or is this something found only on the Hallmark Channel? If you aren’t familiar with this network, it usually involves a baker, country music singer, hockey player, or a prince who...

Roots Report

Okee dokee folks… “Sto lat, sto lat.” It’s a traditional Polish song that is meant to wish a long life to a person. “Sto lat” roughly translates to “100 years” and is a common Polish...

Down with the Boyfriends: Celibacy as a Form of Modern Feminism 

Illustration by Maddy Bormes Valentine’s Day is on its way, and so is the heteronormativity that accompanies it. From the popular rom-coms we guiltily indulge in to the traditionalist ideals that have a grip on many,...

Who said romance was dead?: Here’s some ways you can treat yourself for Valentine's Day.

It’s that time of year again, where love is in the air and the stores are filled with as much chocolate as the eye can see. Typically it’s considered a holiday where you spend time...

Love Songs from the Ocean State: 7 RI Artists Laying All Their Cards on the Table

If you’re as chronically online as I am, you might have caught wind of the way people from in and out of state romanticize a Rhode Island summer and share the nostalgia of having fallen...

The Blood of Kings: How the Pitts-Wileys of Mixed Magic Theatre build love into every aspect of their art

Ricardo and Bernadet Pitts-Wiley of the Mixed Magic Theatre in Pawtucket have been married for 48 years, and have been colleagues in the theatre space for 26. Over the last few years, I’ve noticed how...

Telling Stories: A collection of profiles of local Black artists

While gathering profiles of local Black artists, We had far more suggestions from our guest editor and advisors than we could ever hope to cover. Kelly Marino interviewed three RI makers who are making waves...

The Poet of our Times

The Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading is returning for its 31st consecutive year, to begin black history month. The annual free event will celebrate the powerful work of poet Langston Hughes with community poetry readings...

Black Excellence in Rhode Island: Support Black-owned businesses throughout Black History Month and every other day

Sarcastic Sweets Black excellence is something that should be celebrated every day. Black History Month not only honors that excellence but places it front and center. In that spirit, I invite you to visit one or...

Serve the song, enrich the community: The Proving Ground is a studio with a vision

 You know how when you talk to people about something or someone they love they suddenly sit up straighter, remember things they thought they’d forgotten, and share their experiences with a sparkle in their eyes?...

BTS with DMK: An interview with storyteller Kim Fuller

Rhode Island is bursting with creative energy. Providence calls itself the Creative Capital but that concept doesn’t stick to the confines of the city’s boundaries. The creatives that help make the Ocean State one helluva...

The Sandwich Hut: A Sammy Slam Dunk

There are some places in RI that feel less like a business and more like a trip back home. The Sandwich Hut is one of them. It all began in 1963, when Joe Tatulli, a World...

Parent Support Network for Beauty Health

Give and you shall receive! The time of year for giving is upon us, and the Parent Support Network of Rhode Island (PSN) continuously provides care and services to the community for those in need....

HELP IS A PHONE CALL AWAY: No one deserves to be abused

Abuse is an experience that many individuals have unfortunately lived through, but it is a topic that doesn’t get the coverage it deserves. There is a stigma, along with the plethora of other emotions a...

New Year, New Beers, New Rear: The Balance of Craft Consumption and Staying in Shape

Resolutions are great if they are realistic. However, isn’t resolving to always or never do something setting one up for failure? The best advice that I have is to set some goals that are achievable,...

Murmur Hi-Fi Revives the Ritual Nature of Experiencing Music

On a chilly December morning, Robert recounts to me the time he played his mother's favorite song, Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" through his hi-fi system. After the cumbersome time spent lugging the equipment and then...

Roots Report

Okee dokee folks… Well, it’s a new year. People put way too much stock in that. Shit just carries over from the previous year. Time is a human-made construct. In the big picture it doesn’t...

PVD Patient Care in Peril: Potential closure of two hospitals looms large

Photo courtesy of Gina Montecalvo Recent news has been grim about the future of medical care in our capital city. Dire finances have essentially endangered two of our local institutions: Roger Williams Medical Center and Fatima...

How To Stick To Your New Year’s Fitness Resolution

I get it. It’s the new year and yes! Finally a reason to lock into some new routines. I love that. I’ve been there. However, the clock’s midnight strike is not turning your glass slippers...

American Caesar Salad: Venezuela edition

News broke of an audacious operation on Jan 3 where US forces flew into Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and flew them out to stand trial in federal...

ON THE COVER: Dalton Kaplan

Cover artist Dalton Kaplan of Pawtucket always had the art bug. “When I was a kid, I watched way too many cartoons,” the illustrator and graphic designer laughs. While sitting in front of the TV he...

Two Separate Periods Precipitation Mon – Wed: Snow and Freezing Rain, then Rain

At Providence, a clipper low Mon night followed by a shortwave Tue night into Wed morning will bring two separate episodes of precipitation, the first beginning as minimal snow possibly changing to freezing rain and...

Suspect Dead in Brown Mass Shooting and MIT Professor Murder: Authorities say crimes committed by single suspect

Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, identified by authorities as the suspect in both the Dec 13 mass shooting at Brown University in Providence that killed two and injured nine and the Dec 15 murder of MIT Professor...

YEAR-END REVIEW: Opening amidst adversity and budget cuts, here are five favorite PVD-area stage productions, 2025

Cibber-Vanbrugh’s The Provok’d Husband, a comedy about an extravagant wife, was a huge success in Newport. And Nicholas Rowe’s brooding The Tragedy of Jane Shore, inspired by the life of the mistress of Edward IV, drew standing-room only...

RI Video Roundup

We asked Motif’s resident video production supervisor to recommend some locally grown vids that made his year: 1. Dawn the Duck You may think you have a robust social life, but just know that there's a duck...

Read Locally: Top book picks by RI authors

By Steven R. Porter Rhode Island is known nationwide for its vibrant arts community. But the state’s published authors, despite their talent and success, are too often an afterthought. The year 2025 saw an absolute cornucopia...

COUNTDOWN TO THE LAST TEN BEST PINTS OF 2025

  The holidays, over the years, have changed. This may be true for you as well. As a toddler most of us have followed family traditions. My late sister and I would wait for my father...

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