| Haitians of Florida: The Hope and the Future® New exhibit dates within: Toussaint L’Ouverture High School for Arts & Social Justice (TLHS) is proud to announce the upcoming photographic exhibit, “Haitians of Florida: The Hope and the Future®.” 
For Immediate Release
October 10, 2005
Photo available upon request “Haitians of Florida: The Hope and the Future”® 1
A Photographic Exhibit celebrating the Haitian Community of Florida.
Executive Producer: Joseph Bernadel Toussaint L’Ouverture High School for Arts & Social Justice (TLHS) is proud to announce the upcoming photographic exhibit, “Haitians of Florida: The Hope and the Future®.” The exhibit will be on display December 16, 2005 through January 4, 2006, at the Ritter Gallery located on the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University (FAU). The initiative is a joint effort between TLHS and Konbit Kreyol, the Haitian Student Organization of FAU. It represents the third event of the Haitian International Museum of Art & Culture (HIMAC), a project of TLHS launched in 2002. This exhibit is partially sponsored by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, which recently awarded an Artist-in-Residence grant to TLHS photographers Jerry Lower and Michiko Kurisu. Commissioned by TLHS to document the growing Haitian population and their assent in the South Florida community, Lower and Kurisu also teach photography at TLHS. Several of their students’ works will be displayed in the exhibit. “Haitians of Florida . . . .” is the brainchild of Joe Bernadel, founder of HIMAC at TLHS. Mr. Bernadel’s professional priorities are to build institutions honoring the presence and contributions of Caribbean people in South Florida and to enhance their welfare through education, political advocacy, and economic opportunities. “Haitians need to become able to express and comment on, with their own words and images, the ever-accelerating, ever-multiplying events that are fashioning their story in Florida,” Bernadel said. Referring to the role of Lower and Kurisu, he also stated: “As observers capable of catching the decisive moments and of telling future generations what the oral traditions will not be able to transmit, photographers play an essential role both as witnesses and as artists.” “Building the photographic skills of the TLHS students, and involving them in this documentary has been especially rewarding. They have some terrific images and see things that adults might miss,” Lower said. According to Kurisu, “ Documenting the local Haitian communities has been an encounter with diversity. It’s wonderful to see both students and adults embrace photography as a means of personal and artistic expression.” “TLHS is proud to sponsor this event and to see such a valuable segment of our society recognized through the art of photography,” said Dr. Diane Allerdyce, cofounder and Chief Academic Officer of TLHS. “The Haitian people in South Florida contribute daily to our culture, and TLHS embraces their presence.”
For information please call TLHS at (561) 414-5464 or (561) 243-3136. 1 “Haitians of Florida: The Hope and the Future”® is a registered trademark of TLHS and may not be used without written permission of TLHS.
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