EDGEWOOD - Cincinnati Art Museum officials will be visiting Kenton County children and adults this summer and throughout the coming year as part of the institution's Art for Life program.

The program, which involves the Kenton County Public Library, Kenton County Schools and Children Inc., is meant to form a bridge between the Northern Kentucky community and the Art Museum.

"The museum has shown that it's willing to go outside its walls and come into ours, and I think we'll be reciprocating that," said Earl Hughes, director of elementary education for Kenton County Schools.

According to Hughes, Kenton County Schools is discussing how the museum can help teachers integrate the visual arts into science, language arts and math instruction.

"Art is not just a picture you can look at. We experience it all the time, and it helps us appreciate our lives as a whole," he said.

Meanwhile, children and their caregivers are invited to take part in a two-part program at the Kenton County Public Library devoted to hero- and heroine-based art.

Children will view paintings and sculptures from the museum's permanent collection and then take photos of heroes and heroines in their own lives.

"We're hoping it will not only give the kids an opportunity to understand what makes someone a hero or heroine, but also engender creativity within the children. Maybe they'll realize that art is something they'd like to create," said the library's coordinator of children's services, Patti Richards.

"We're hoping the kids will then take what they've learned home to their parents, and that will lead to families visiting the museum more regularly to learn about art and culture," said Amy Danford, the museum's assistant curator of education for community engagement.

The museum is also reaching out to the Mason, Colerain Township/Forest Park and Walnut Hills in Ohio.