Signature Experiences
Signature Experiences
Go somewhere. Meet someone. Make something bigger. Some of the most important parts of an arts education happen beyond the classroom.
Build Your Creative Life While You're Here.
Xavier Art students are encouraged to experience the professional and cultural worlds surrounding their disciplines. Conferences, intensive workshops, public art projects, museums, travel, exhibitions, professional events, and creative communities help students understand where their education can take them.
Student Professional Development Fund
We want students to have access to opportunities that can change the direction of their creative lives. The Department of Art's Student Professional Development Fund helps students pursue experiences beyond Xavier including professional conferences, intensive workshops, training, research travel, study abroad, and other opportunities related to their development as artists and designers.
Funding is competitive, but students from across our Art, Graphic Design, and 3D Animation & Immersive Game Design programs are encouraged to think ambitiously about where they could go, what they could learn, and who they could meet.
What Can Be Funded?
| Conference Fees | Event Membership | Lodging |
Students are generally responsible for food, parking, travel, and other associated expenses. Funding is competitive and an application does not guarantee financial support or participation.
Featured Professional Development Opportunities
The opportunities below are examples currently identified through the Department's professional development application. Students may also propose other experiences that align with their goals.
Intensive Workshops · Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Arrowmont School of Arts and CraftsSpend days immersed in making alongside practicing artists and educators at one of the country's best-known craft schools. Arrowmont offers workshops in ceramics, sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking, wood, metals, fibers, textiles, multimedia, and more. Sophomores are especially encouraged to apply. |
 Game Development · Columbus Area · October 15–18, 2026
GDEX Midwest Gaming ConferenceMeet professional and independent game developers, see unreleased games and emerging technologies, attend workshops and presentations, and begin building a professional network in the game industry. Especially relevant to 3D Animation & Immersive Game Design students. |
Glass · Making · Professional Craft
Corning Glass WorkshopExplore glass as a material through professional instruction and direct exposure to the extraordinary resources surrounding the Corning Museum of Glass and its glassmaking programs. BIPOC students are especially encouraged to apply. |
Ceramics · Sculpture · Professional Community
NCECA ConferenceJoin one of the largest professional communities devoted to ceramic art. NCECA conferences bring together artists, educators, students, galleries, exhibitions, demonstrations, lectures, and suppliers from throughout the field. Especially relevant to students working in ceramics, sculpture, and 3D practices. |
College Art Association Annual Conference
The CAA Annual Conference is one of the largest professional gatherings of artists, designers, art historians, curators, educators, and visual arts professionals. Students can attend sessions, workshops, special events, exhibitions, and the Book and Trade Fair while gaining a larger view of contemporary art and academic practice.
And That's Not All.
Students may also request support connected to summer study abroad, senior thesis work, research travel, other conferences, workshops, classes, training, grants, residencies, and portfolio reviews. If you find an opportunity that could significantly advance your creative or professional development, bring it to us.
What Opportunity Could Change Your Path?
Tell us what you want to do, why it matters to your development, and how you have already been engaging with the arts at Xavier and beyond.
BLINK Cincinnati
BLINK gives Xavier students the chance to move creative work out of the studio and into one of Cincinnati's largest public arts experiences. Xavier students and faculty have participated through collaborative sculpture, photography, installation, animation, and interdisciplinary projects.
These projects ask students to think beyond the individual artwork and consider audience, scale, fabrication, teamwork, installation, deadlines, and the experience of making work for a city-wide audience.
Make Something Bigger Than Yourself.
Working on a large public project means learning how to collaborate, solve unexpected problems, fabricate for real-world conditions, communicate across disciplines, and make creative decisions with an audience in mind.
Xavier Art Passport
The Xavier Art Passport encourages students to make Cincinnati's creative community part of their education. Students earn points by attending exhibitions, artist talks, workshops, screenings, professional events, museum visits, student organization activities, conferences, networking opportunities, and other approved arts experiences.
|
See
Experience More ArtVisit galleries, museums, exhibitions, screenings, artist talks, and creative events on campus and throughout Cincinnati. |
Connect
Join the CommunityParticipate in XAS events, workshops, professional networking, recruiting activities, conferences, and other creative communities. |
Grow
Build Creative HabitsDevelop the habit of seeking out creative experiences and taking responsibility for learning beyond class. |
Your Education Is Bigger Than Your Transcript.
Travel to a conference. Spend a week making at Arrowmont. Put work in front of thousands of people at BLINK. Walk into a gallery you've never visited. Meet artists doing work you didn't know existed. The experiences surrounding your degree can become some of the most important parts of it.