Wednesday, May 276 - 10pmMyrtle, East Providence Join us for the 4th annual Motif Spoken Awards! We are excited to be returning to Myrtle to celebrate RI’s spoken word community. Want to see your favorite Rhode Island...
By Lillian MK Photography By Olivia Lunger By Izzy Cooke ...
The Music Awards went off without a hitch this year, and over the course of the evening more than 400 local music lovers dropped by to dance, listen, and cheer on fellow musicians. We'll have...
It’s often said (well, I definitely say this), that some of the deepest conversations and connected moments can happen while one is sitting in a car. This is certainly true for the duo, band, sisterhood...
Image: Olivia Lunger. Local Civil War re-enactor Bill Sherman was having trouble recruiting young people into the hobby, so he hit on a novel idea that is perfectly suited to Gen Z. He immediately telephoned his...
The Continental Congress, befooled. April Fool’s Day originated among the French a few years into the Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin had been pleading with them for any sort of assistance. The brand...
If you have been a craft beer lover over this past decade, you may remember when the first Rhode Island Brewery Passport was released. It was changed to an app in 2020. Six years later,...
No Kings 3, Mar 28, 2026 No Kings – nokings.org – is a non-violent protest movement responding to the monarchy-like concentration of power in the hands of the president, to the exclusion of Congress and the...
After attending Chalumeau’s release party for their album BLUE at The Met in Pawtucket last August, I wrote that if you ever got the chance to see them perform live, you should jump on it....
On February 28, after 20 years of being a community staple for first dates, Super Tuesday regulars, and movie fanatics alike, CWTheaters (previously called CinemaWorld) was forced to shut its doors for good. The decline...
Last year, I had a blast and a half working on a fun commercial shoot. I landed the gig because the fella producing, Josh Kirk, asked around to find an actor to portray the client’s...
Photo: Jenn Lombari. @jennlombariphotography ssa lin has been making a local splash like a rockin’ rainstorm after a record-setting blizzard, since releasing her first single, “tallboys,” at the end of 2025. The feedback has been good,...
Here are some hot new local tracks to finish melting the ice. The Hopeless Romantics – “Quiet Kind” The third and final single from The Hopeless Romantics’ upcoming debut album, “Quiet Kind” is also a reworked...
Okee dokee folks… PLEASE stop using AI. The more it knows, the more it grows. We are feeding a beast that will someday destroy us. AI is not your friend, though it may pretend to...
Graphic by Olivia Lunger. ...
Hey idiot, why are you and your friends getting high indoors? Don't you know? We have a planet, a whole, big planet filled with trees, rivers, and critters. The outside world doesn't have to start...
Medical marijuana was legalized in Rhode Island in January 2006, and by May 2022 even recreational sales became legal through state-licensed dispensaries and authorized retailers. Yet it still isn’t safe for medical users to come out of the closet....
Cover artist Elliott Italiano of Jamestown is a self-made glass artist. As a young adult, Italiano's interests centered on fashion, inspiring thoughts of pursuing a degree in luxury marketing and design. He relates to his past...
MAD Magazine cover, Feb 2016: Donald Trump and Alfred E. Neuman We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the process...
Cover artist Mina Miki of Providence calls her baby blanket her longest friend. “His name is Blankie, but now he looks less like a blanket and more like a piece of tangled silk,” she says....
McKee’s Budget Includes Rollbacks for State’s Renewable Energy Programs PROVIDENCE — Five years after lawmakers passed the state’s first firm climate mandates, the historic Act on Climate law is in danger of getting rolled back by...
The closure of the westbound section of the Washington Bridge that occurred in December of 2023 has inspired major grievances within the greater Providence metropolitan area. Traffic within the city limits has become unbearable, especially...
Graphic by Eric Barao When the US Congress allowed the Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire on Dec. 31, 2025, they created a health insurance crisis that could have inspired a plot line for “American Horror...
On January 30, 2026, an estimated 5,000 Rhode Islanders – including students and numerous local businesses – participated in a historic, nationwide strike in an effort to get the tyranny of Immigration and Customs Enforcement...
Okee dokee folks… “Art is fucking political. Always has been, always will be.” I looked for a source to attribute this to but there doesn’t seem to be a definitive person who said it. Doesn’t...
Gregory Alan Isakov and band, with support from the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra at PPAC on Thursday, January 29, 2026. Photo by Gregory Alan Isakov’s tour photographer, Kenzi Everitt, @kenzieveritt. As the house lights dimmed on...
From left to right: Brendan, Charles, Peter, Wil, John, Daniel, Patrick Kinnane, and Jeffrey Azize. I am a hopeful romantic and a huge fan of romcoms. The films often have a woman in the lead navigating...
I’ve never known much about growing flowers. The few gardens I’ve started in my life ended all too unceremoniously, in death. And I’ve never known much about 3-D printing, either. In fact, probably attributed to...
Snow accumulation at TF Green Airport reached 37.9 inches, shattering the all-time record of 28.6 inches set during the legendary Blizzard of 1978. 07:01 pm EST - 2/23/2026TF Green AP, RI37.903:10 pm EST - 2/23/20261 SE...
Photo: Jackie Davis as Robyn and Kortney Adams as Sharon, by Mark Turek. Not since Oscar and Felix – or Laverne and Shirley – have we cackled so hard at the antics of mismatched roommates bumbling...
Welcome to the new Motif Magazine Website. If you’re seeing this message on the first page, then we’ve just recently launched our new, interactive Motif site. It’s not everything we want it to be yet – far from it – but we just couldn’t hold out any longer. It’s a first step in bringing the […]
by Rosemary Pacheco It may be cold outside, but things are heating up in Rhode Island. Those of us in the film world are very excited as the industry is booming right now – great things are happening all around us. Short film/TV pilot Half Pint, produced by Original Concept & Development Associates (Andre Stark […]
Bob Cowsill, of Rhode Island’s legendary band The Cowsills, comes full circle in his 40-year musical career. Now living on the West Coast, the nationally-acclaimed musician and his band member siblings are planning a trip back home. He (along with other Rhode Island musicians) will be honored on Sunday, April 28 at the Hope Artiste Village, to be recognized by […]
By Pete Larrivee Hello and welcome to the first “Got Beer” column of the new online version of Motif! We’ve finally moved into the 21st century, and it’s about time because my leeches and electro-shock health care plan is expensive! Here you’ll see beer reviews and craft beer news before they hit the paper every month. We’re […]
A wise man once said, “Have no expectations and you’ll never be let down.” Okay, maybe he wasn’t a wise man; he was probably just some dude who couldn’t get laid and listened to too much Morrissey. Another wise man once said, “Their earlier work is so much better than their later stuff.” And then his friends were all, […]
So, what is psytrance? Here is a short history: In the 1960s, hippies flocked to Goa, India, because of the free lifestyle, warm climate and abundant beaches. Back then, DJs in Goa were spinning psychedelic rock influenced by The Doors, Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead. Then in the 1980s, they started spinning psychedelic music with […]
As you may or may not know, I’m currently asking readers to email me dares. This month I was dared to go on an OkCupid date and speak in third person only. Since it’s almost Valentines Day (and since I’m single), I thought it was most fitting. I scanned the dating website for my culprit […]
by DJ Venom The year was 1992. Buddy Cianci started his second stint as the mayor of Providence while an Arkansas governor named Bill Clinton campaigned his way to the White House. Kurt Cobain and his grunge movement brethren had ousted the hair metal bands from their throne atop rock radio while hip-hop could […]
Many Americans have a sense of British history that comes from a smattering of watered down school lessons and reruns of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The Royals are a fetish for some and costume dramas have been dominating the airwaves lately, but for us non-Anglophiles, our grasp of The Tudors is hazy at best. Anne […]
