Area students are on fall break this week, but that doesn’t mean learning has stopped.

For many students, the time away from school allows them to pursue other interests through camps focusing on art, science and other subjects.

That was the case for Graham Browder-Seguin, a local fifth-grader who showed off his artwork Wednesday at the Kentucky Museum’s annual Fall Break Camp at Western Kentucky University.

“I love how we’re practicing different things like painting, sketching,” said Graham, who created a paper collage of a clock he called “Time Flies.”

For Graham, art is just as important as the math or reading subjects he learns about at the Montessori School of Bowling Green.

“It gives kids a creative outlet,” Graham said.

About a dozen kids are participating in the camp, which is for children between the ages of 6 and 13.

Local artist Cutivetti Dye knows art can reach kids in ways nothing else can. That’s why he’s teaching his students about the artistic process by walking them through producing their own sketches, paintings and masks. For Dye, the camp is important because it allows students to work closely with a professional artist, an opportunity they don’t normally get during a typical school day.

Through art, Dye said, students with communication and social difficulties have a voice they otherwise wouldn’t have.

“They’re able to still communicate through the vehicle of artwork,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the only outlet that they have.”

That outlet allows kids to join an artistic conversation, Dye said.

“When somebody sees something that they’ve created they know that they’re a part of that conversation,” he said.

Although science and math skills are often emphasized more than creativity, Dye said art allows kids to put into practice problem-solving skills they learn from other subjects. Should a student make a mistake with their art, for example, it’s up to them to figure out how to fix it.

“You have to figure out a way to resolve that,” he said.

Lynne Ferguson, an artist in residence with WKU, said the museum started offering summer camps and expanding its programming into the fall after seeing a need.

“I think it’s a really wonderful way for them to have a break and do creative things outside of school,” she said. “Creating something is powerful. … It makes you feel good about yourself.”