Repeating Islands

“Paperboys,” a photographic exhibit at the Arts for ACT Gallery downtown Fort Myers, Florida, chronicles a memorable spring-break visit to the Dominican Republic by a group of Naples and Fort Myers High school students. Led by photographer Chip Hoffman, creative director of Global Community Engagement, the students traveled to Santiago in the Dominican Republic and worked with Dominican and Haitian children, many of whom live and work on the streets. The object, Mr. Hoffman says, was to “visualize the world through the eyes of a child living on the streets.”

Global Community Engagement has spent the last nine years developing a relationship with the people and children of the Dominican Republic, working alongside Acción Callejera (“street action”), a nonprofit organization dedicated to getting kids off the streets. A portion of proceeds from exhibit sales will benefit the Santiago-based Acción Callejera. Part of GCE’s mission is to provide education and training to individuals in vulnerable situations in the developing world. The goal of this training and education is to provide greater access to employment and financial independence.

“Paperboys” will be on exhibit at The Arts for ACT Gallery, 2265 First St., Fort Myers. Opening reception is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 2.

For more information go to http://fortmyers.floridaweekly.com/news/2009/0617/arts_ent/072.html

For more on Global Community Engagement go to http://www.globalcommunityengagement.org/test/site/

Photo: “Bare Witness,” a woman sitting on top of a dump in La Mosca, Dominican Republic, by Chip Hoffman.