On-Campus Work Opportunities

Xavier University Department of Art

Work Opportunities

Build your portfolio, earn professional experience, make connections, and put your creative skills to work before graduation.

Start Working While You're Learning

Campus Can Be Your First Creative Workplace.

Xavier students do not have to wait until graduation to begin building professional experience. Creative students regularly contribute design, photography, video, social media, branding, digital content, gallery work, and other skills to organizations across campus.

These opportunities help students build portfolios, learn how to work with clients and supervisors, meet deadlines, communicate professionally, and understand how creative work functions outside the classroom.

Student-Led Creative Agency

Xavier Element

Xavier Element is Xavier University's student-led digital marketing agency and consultancy. Students work on real projects for real clients while collaborating across areas such as creative design, marketing, analytics, strategy, video, branding, and digital media.

For Art and Graphic Design students, Element can be an especially valuable way to gain professional experience while still in school. Students can build portfolio work, communicate directly with clients, respond to feedback, collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, and develop a better understanding of how creative work fits into larger business and marketing strategies.

Student consultants may contribute to graphic design, branding, websites, video, social media, creative strategy, and other client-facing projects.

EXPLORE XAVIER ELEMENT

Across Xavier

Creative Work Is Needed All Over Campus.

Many departments, teams, and offices at Xavier need students who can design, photograph, create video, manage social media, build visual content, and communicate ideas creatively.

These opportunities vary from year to year, but Art and Design students have worked with organizations across campus including:

Athletics

Xavier Athletics

Opportunities may include photography, video, social media graphics, event content, branding, and promotional design.

Admissions

Xavier Admissions

Creative students can contribute to recruitment materials, event content, digital communication, photography, and visual storytelling.

Communications

Marketing & Communications

Students may gain experience with university branding, photography, video, social content, digital media, and communications projects.

Women's Basketball

Women's Basketball

Team-focused creative opportunities may include social media, graphics, photography, promotional content, and digital storytelling.

Men's Soccer

Men's Soccer

Students may help create visual content, photography, graphics, social media, and promotional storytelling for the team.

Student Life

Office of Student Affairs

Student Affairs provides another environment where design, events, photography, communication, and social media skills can be put into practice.

Opportunities change from semester to semester. Students should watch Xavier job postings, talk with faculty, connect with campus organizations, and let people know what they can do. Many creative opportunities begin because someone knows a student who can design, photograph, edit, animate, or help tell a story.


Xavier University Art Gallery

Art Gallery Docent & Archivist

Students interested in museums, galleries, art history, curating, education, archives, and public engagement can gain direct professional experience through the Xavier University Art Gallery.

The Art Gallery Docent & Archivist internship combines public-facing gallery work with behind-the-scenes museum and archival experience.

Students may assist with tours, educational programming, interpretation of exhibitions, artwork documentation, digital archive development, collection research, and curatorial projects.

The experience gives students the opportunity to apply art history and visual-culture knowledge in real professional contexts while developing communication, organization, initiative, curatorial thinking, and museum/gallery skills.

Experience Includes

Gallery tours
Public interpretation
Educational programming
Artwork archiving
Database development
Exhibition research
Curatorial experience
Professional communication

Earn Academic Credit

The Gallery Docent & Archivist experience may be completed through ARTS 494: Internship, with the number of weekly hours determined by the number of academic credits. Placement requires faculty approval.

Department Communications

Art Department Social Media Manager

The Art Department Social Media Manager gives students the opportunity to help shape how Xavier Art presents itself to students, alumni, prospective families, and the broader creative community.

Create

Make Content

Photograph student work, document events, create graphics, capture studio activity, edit short videos, and develop visual content.

Tell

Tell Our Story

Highlight exhibitions, student projects, alumni, faculty research, events, opportunities, and the everyday creative life of the department.

Grow

Build Professional Skills

Gain experience in content strategy, social media, photography, design, writing, branding, scheduling, audience engagement, and professional communication.

This role is especially relevant for students interested in graphic design, photography, digital media, marketing, communications, branding, content creation, and creative direction.

Why It Matters

Your First Professional Project Doesn't Have to Wait.

Campus work gives students a low-risk place to begin learning the parts of creative practice that are difficult to simulate in a classroom.

Portfolio

Make Real Work

Build projects created for actual audiences, clients, organizations, exhibitions, and events.

Communication

Work With People

Learn how to listen, ask questions, present ideas, receive feedback, and communicate professionally.

Reliability

Meet Real Deadlines

Creative work becomes professional work when someone else is depending on you to deliver.

Connections

Build a Network

Supervisors, clients, faculty, staff, alumni, and collaborators can become future references and professional connections.

Find an Opportunity

Be Visible. Ask. Get Involved.

Creative opportunities are not always advertised in the same way as traditional jobs. Students should let faculty know what kinds of work they want to do, build relationships across campus, participate in Art Department events, maintain a strong portfolio, and introduce themselves to organizations whose work interests them.

The student who is known as someone who can design, photograph, animate, edit video, manage social media, illustrate, or solve visual problems is often the student who gets the next call.

Xavier Art

Learn It. Use It. Put It to Work.

Classroom projects build skills. Work opportunities teach you what happens when those skills meet real people, real expectations, and real audiences.