Gulliver South Miami students featured in international art museum on web

The first and second grade students in Kathy Dunberg's art class have the opportunity for their artwork to be seen around the world via the World Wide Web at www.hugginghands.org. The site is a nonprofit, virtual kids art museum that features art by youngsters aged 2 to 18 from around the globe. Gulliver Schools South Miami was one of the schools that has participated in the "Y2Kids: Art of the Millennium" program sponsored by the site.

The program generated excitement for students to publish their artwork to a worldwide audience and allowed them to view artwork from other school children around the globe. All 29 of Dunberg's students in the first and second grades submitted artwork that represented their vision of a person or animal of the future.

"This program has inspired students to do their best work and compare and contrast their images with others from around the world. The thing they like most about the site is its interactive nature. They are allowed to express their thoughts and comments with all the other artists," Dunberg said.

Visitors to the site are allowed to express their opinions and appreciation of the art by writing a comment or giving the artist a "virtual" hug. One example of a comment appears under Max Van de Put's picture of a cat. Andrew and Norma from Australia write: "Dear Max: What a colorful cat ranging over the continents and the seas of the world."

So far the Gulliver students' artwork has been viewed 633 times and the 29 students have received 344 virtual hugs.

Hugging Hands International, started by employees of Anderson Consulting, plans to create the world's largest kids art museum on the Internet and use it as a means of helping less fortunate children. As the Hugging Hands art museum grows, it raises funds through corporate sponsorships and donates these funds to children's charities.

To quickly find the artwork of Gulliver Schools South Miami Campus students, go to www.hugginghands.org/y2kids  and then click on Gulliver Schools South Miami Campus. Don't forget to give the young artists a "virtual" hug.