Is it true love or a rewarding romp in the sack? You’ll go back and forth for two hours trying to decide in “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” Photo by Cat Laine What’s undisputed...
Support SocietyJennifer JolicoeurAmato A DeLucaPaul Rochford You’re On a Lobstah ROLL TierDon RhodesSI RosenbaumDaria Phoebe BrashearJeannine PetersonAlex You’re a Weiner TierHannah ChasonSarah SummersMary Paolino You’re Not So Awful Awful TierVincent FugereMadiganSeeDubs And THANK YOU to our anonymous donors! PATREON ...
If you haven’t noticed yet, Rhode Island is bursting with endless creative energy. Providence has named itself the Creative Capital and is the home of the Rhode Island School of Design, WaterFire, and PVDFest --...
While built for quick, seamless visits, this dispensary does it without losing its sense of community. What used to be known as Agaves Mexican Grill on Jefferson Boulevard has now become a community-driven dispensary for medicinal...
Does the holiday season stress you out? Are you doing last minute shopping? No one needs a coffee mug, crappy smelling candles or a pot holder from a discount dollar store. It is not the...
Guitarists love their gadgets. A quick look at most pedalboards will show the time that they put into fine-tuning their sound to get the coveted perfect tone. As a drummer that does nothing more than...
Consuelo's Revenge. Photo by Asim Barakzai Consuelo’s Revenge – Bread & Circuses A lot has gone down in the 10 years since the last Consuelo’s Revenge album, Mercy, to say the least. The world didn’t end although...
Adam Sherman Okee dokee folks… This issue is the Motif Gift Guide. If you have read this column for any of the past twenty years, you surely know that I don’t do Christmas but I WILL...
The fall colors linger longest near the sea. When you hear, “Let’s take a hike,” you probably picture an uninhabited area. There’s nothing like a walk in the woods, the more unspoiled the better. The landscape...
Over the years we’ve all accumulated stuff, material goods (and bads) that engulf the homestead, sometimes overwhelming the dwellers. Some of us do not know how to declutter and reorganize. Things just pile up over...
It’s that time of the year to “Treat yo self” — a line from one of my favorite shows, “Parks & Recreation.” Like Tom and Donna, don’t just buy gifts for others: Reward yourself this...
Do you hate the hustle and bustle at the stores around December? Do you resort to asking Google what to get for a gift? Instead, read about local artists and look for the perfect gift...
“I’ve leveled up,” illustrator Daniel Smelansky of Providence says with a chuckle of his latest gig: creating the cover of Motif’s Gift Guide. That’s because he made a word-and-image collage about the lack of nonbinary...
At Providence, solar aurora may be visible overnight Tue into Wed and, to a lesser extent, Wed into Thu. Aurora is unusual at latitudes this far south, but it typically happens a few times every...
Michael Bilow of Motif attended the 3:30pm court hearing and is reporting based on his personal observations. At a hearing in US District Court in Providence on the afternoon of Thu, Nov 6, Judge John J....
Michael Bilow of Motif attended the 1:00pm court hearing and is reporting based on his personal observations. In a case with national significance and effect, Judge John J. McConnell Jr of the US District Court in...
RI SNAP support poster (Source: https://dhs.ri.gov/programs-and-services/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/supplemental-nutrition-hold ) The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known by its old name, “food stamps,” is funded primarily by the federal government but run by state governments. The money ordinarily placed...
This year’s RI Food Truck & Drink Awards managed to dodge the rain clouds and have a beautiful night by the Pedestrian Bridge, in lovely, view-encrusted District Park in the Guild Garden. We detailed the victorious...
Okee dokee folks… So, I am EXTREMELY angry. This disastrous regime has been assaulting immigrants as well as US citizens and making some disappear. That in itself is disgusting and enraging, as we are a...
My great, great grandmother was a Ramapough Lenape Indian and one of the only ancestors we have a picture of from that long ago, around the late 1800s. While we may only have an image...
“What’s that saying, ‘We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams’?” (Quote from Blood Sisters by: Vanessa Lillie.) Vanessa Lillie is a best selling author, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and lives on Narragansett land in RI. Her...
When a whale dies, sometimes the ocean delivers it back to us. Whether it drifts ashore in a quiet cove or crashes onto a crowded beach, its body becomes a stage upon which humans project...
As the Museum Coordinator for the Wampanoag History Museum at the Aquinnah Cultural Center, I have the responsibility of making sure that the belongings in our collection are properly cared for. This work can be...
When I set out to curate this collection of writing on “sovereignty,” I knew it was a mammoth to explore. Among original peoples of the Northeast, the word – the idea – is layered with...
In creating the cover of Motif’s Indigenous Peoples Month issue, artist and visual arts teacher Ella Mahoney took her inspiration from her birthplace, Aquinnah, in Martha’s Vineyard, MA. “Every year, the members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag...
On September 9, Motif celebrated the 9th annual RI Food Truck and 4th RI Brewery Awards! No one died, some pink monsters came out to dance, and the sun set on an overall good time...
Silence = Death Under Brian McEleney’s direction, the much-anticipated Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika, wowed audiences just as much as part 1, Millennium Approaches. This continuation revisits the lives of its beloved, memorable characters as...
Okee dokee folks… Parking. That is what is on my mind today. In my opinion, if a venue – or any business for that matter – does not take easy parking access into consideration as...
I don’t think I will ever drink iced coffee. Ever. And I feel very confident about that. It’s not that I’m anti-cold coffee — if that’s your jam, I won’t judge — but my heart...
Illustration by Strawberry7. The leading character of the audio series The Diaries of Netovicius the Vampire was spawned by an offhand comment while creator Hugo Pierre Martin and his partner, Sonja Kelly, were walking around downtown...
This split CD from Cretin Records comes out of the gates with no holds barred punk rock. Defecation Area open the CD swinging with “Generation D.U.M.B.,” which while essentially generic 77’s punk does sound big. They remind me a little of ’90s NYC punks L.E.S. Stitches, who were one damn good band. The most off-putting […]
I think it’s safe to say, I need to get out more. With good beer bars popping up like Starbucks, though with significantly less evil and corporate motivations, it’s a terrible shame I only get to visit these great places once in a great while. But every so often, usually when a check comes in […]
Wickford Junction proves a costly startup project From Route 102 in North Kingstown the 4-story building it’s hard to miss. A clock-tower overlooks brand new entrance roads, fresh landscaping and a gleaming glass elevator. The brand-new Wickford Junction commuter rail station is impressive. And it should be, with a price tag of $44 million taxpayer […]
It’s always important for a theater season to end on a high note, ensuring that audiences will eagerly anticipate the following year. After a mixed year, with more hits than misses, Trinity Repertory Company ends on a high note with their production of the uproarious comedy, Boeing, Boeing, directed by company member Fred Sullivan, Jr. […]
Somewhere, the spirit of Douglas Adams is crying foul over Sam Leith’s new novel The Coincidence Engine. Lifting from the Hitchhiker books Adams’ infinite improbability drive is a far more venial sin than abandoning the promising screwball comedy of the novel’s first half for a much deeper, darker, and incongruous exploration of the characters that […]
This Mother’s Day weekend why not take mom on a trip around the world to see how various cultures celebrate their heritage through dance. To do so, you will not have to use any SkyMiles, just set your GPS for Roberts Hall at RI College where The State Ballet of RI will present Tour de […]
Sex offenders living near schools despite a law requiring them to reside outside 300 feet From the back window of his house, Douglas Northup can look directly at the front door of the Anthony Carnevale Elementary School just off Harford Ave in Providence. A slight glance to the left gives him a clear view of […]
Generally speaking, when you sit down to listen to a song, the individual instrumental elements are right there in the forefront jumping out at you. ‘nice voice on the singer… Oh there’s the guitar solo… man, them drums is loud…’ But every once in awhile a band comes together in such mellifluous harmony that the […]
From cartooning to live music, creativity a daily norm There exists in Providence a breed of man that collectively composes the culture that defines the cherished scene which Motif Magazine stands for. They are found on the stages of night clubs, the porches of coffee houses, working late night at studios. The epitome of the […]
Newport darlings join Supersuckers bill @ PVD Social Club Newport’s The Skinny Millionaires dropped their debut CD, Sleeping Dogs Lie (75orLess Records), about a year and a half ago which was mostly fell along the lines of what you call Americana with some rocking stuff thrown (“Night of The Creeps” stands out). I’ve caught maybe […]
