SHErPA

"We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time."

--T.S. Eliot

Beneath the footprints of pedestrians, the rumble of trolleys and the bustle of daily traffic that permeates the urban texture of our fair city of Providence, Rhode Island, lies a parallel mythic landscape, nearly invisible and almost entirely forgotten.  Like Rome, we are told that Providence is founded upon seven hills. But do these seven summits even exist? Our exhibit  documents the remarkable Seven Hills Errant Pioneers Association, an apparently forgotten society of intrepid explorers whose files have been recently discovered in the Capital City Municipal Repository. These latter-day Hillarys and Norgays had trekked over miles of unfamiliar terrain to stake out, definitively, the seven summits of Providence. The exhibit includes a topographical map of the Seven Hills; photographs of SHErPA's expeditions; diary entries and field notes, and other archival material.

Team Members:

 Jonathan Bell has wondered and wandered about the Seven Hills since moving to Providence in 2000. Jonathan works at William Kite Architects, and is an adjunct faculty member at Roger Williams University's School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation.

 Martha Kuhlman, aspiring Situationist and Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Bryant University, teaches courses on literature and the city, the detective novel, and critical theory. Her photography was exhibited at the AS220 gallery in Providence in April 2002.

Alexander Moffett is an adventurer and doctoral candidate in English  Literature at Northeastern University in Boston.

Sarah Zurier, Providence native and historian at the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. She presented "Dark Trail with Ice Cream" at ProvFlux 2004.

"But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night...."

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