Something For Everyone Over The Holidays

by Margaret Rizzuto

Holiday meals have become a little more complex and that’s before we even get to the seating arrangements! You might have a vegan daughter, a gluten-free sister-in-law, or a friend who’s “mostly plant-based but eats fish sometimes.” Before you panic about what to serve, let’s [...]

Finding His Voice: The Creative Journey of Hugo Pierre Martin

by Judith Clinton

Rhode Island is home to a wealth of talented actors, including French–American actor and bilingual voiceover artist Hugo Pierre Martin, newly transplanted by way of California. Before starting a new creative pursuit in Providence—namely, his audio series The Diaries of Netovivius the Vampire — he has [...]

PiANTA: Where Plants Steal the Show

by Margaret Rizzuto

As someone who’s been a vegetarian for decades, I’ve had my fair share of plant-based meals, some okay, some very good even. But every so often, a restaurant reminds me that vegetables can absolutely steal the show. That’s what happened at PiANTA, a vegan restaurant [...]

Now Go: The Insistent Story of “Little Neck” by Darcie Dennigan

by Diane Josefowicz

Little Neck by Providence’s Darcie Dennigan is the book that Gertrude Stein would have written, if only she’d had a side hustle in death. Told in spooky retrospect by a knowing teen who works at a gravestone-cutting shop, the novel begins with a four-sentence revelation [...]

Joe Wilson Jr. Takes Center Stage at ACT

by Judith Clinton

Joe Wilson’s vision for culture as community wealth blends history, activism, and infrastructure Providence has always lived on its cultural heartbeat. From the noise and ingenuity of the Industrial Era to the DIY brilliance of neighborhood festivals and avant-garde theater, this city thrives when its [...]

2nd Annual Mexican Independence Day Festival in Mount Pleasant

by Julia Yakirevich

On Saturday, September 14, George J. West Park on Chalkstone Ave in Providence was transformed into a lively hub of color, food, and sound, despite clouds overhead and. Families and friends gathered with folding chairs, umbrellas, and children in tow. For many, the occasion was [...]

The Art of Resistance: Providence Area Feminist Creators Are Building Power and Community

by Samantha Ho

Famously part of the “Blue Wall,” Rhode Island is known for its stalwart Democratic history. Now, along with most of the rest of New England, the Ocean State is experiencing the reverberations of Donald Trump’s second administration, including an assault on women’s rights. Access to [...]

No Shortcuts: ‘Ways Home: Stories’ by Karen Lee Boren

by Diane Josefowicz

Speaking with The Alembic after the publication of her first book, Girls in Peril (2006), the Providence writer Karen Lee Boren described adolescence “as a time when young people, often unwillingly, must recognize their separateness as individuals despite their intense connections to their friends.” In [...]

Home Is Where the Art Is: Go ‘Head, Fix You a Plate at AS220

by Carole Saltz

In the exhibition GO ‘HEAD, FIX YOU A PLATE, Jazzmen Lee-Johnson echoes and extends [the] concept [of home] by conjuring a spiritual geography…that binds the domestic, the external, and the ancestral. – Chris Roberts, from the guide to the exhibit, Go ‘Head, Fix You A [...]

Creating Space for Black Joy at This Year’s PVD Fest

by Christopher West

Recently, Downtown in Providence was converted to a festival showcasing the creative talents of the city. Or, as Joe Wilson, Jr. called PVD Fest a place of “radical joy.” Wilson, director of the Department of Art, Culture and Tourism, said the 10 year old event [...]