Considering a creative career? See how UVU helps students explore majors for creatives, connect with mentors, and turn talent into practical skills.
You don't have to move to the coasts to start a creative career. You may have heard that artists can't make money with their passions, but that's simply not true. With the right education, mentorship, and practical experience, you can build a creative career that supports your future. Utah’s creative economy is growing, and Utah Valley University (UVU) gives students opportunities to gain hands-on experience while learning in the classroom.
Read on for a look at what's happening in the industry, creative pathways, alumni success stories, and steps you can take today to get started.
You may have heard that creative careers are not profitable, but recent industry data from the Utah Division of Arts and Museums shows that Utah's creative economy is robust, expanding, and actively creating jobs.
As of a 2025 report, the state's cultural arts industry accounted for:
Several Utah creative sectors have also seen strong recent job growth, including:
These stats are good news for anyone wondering if their passion can lead to a career, whether within Utah or beyond. Many creatives find fulfilling paths, though they are often nonlinear. As an aspiring artist, it's important to seek a community that can support you on your journey. Some students find that majoring in their passion while pursuing hands-on professional experience during school helps them to grow their network and portfolio.
UVU provides opportunities for creative students to practice what they're learning in the classroom out in the real world. Whether you are still exploring or already know your direction, your path may include the following steps:
UVU's academic advisors help you through each of these steps. The great thing about colleges like UVU is that you can explore many paths to help you figure out your goals.
Once you know your interests, choose your major. Here are some common creative "personalities" and the majors that often attract them:
Creatives need entrepreneurial skills to promote themselves. Entrepreneurship courses are open to students from all majors. You can build practical business skills to help you promote your art as a freelancer. You'll also be prepared to work fulltime for an organization while promoting your art on the side if that's the path you choose.
If you want to see a Utah-based community that is rich with UVU alums in creative careers, look no further than FanX, the largest comic convention per capita in North America and Utah's most-attended convention.
Behind events like FanX are professionals working in partnerships, marketing, programming, operations, customer experience, and community engagement. Matt Farr, who leads business development at FanX, credits his UVU business education as a defining moment in his creative path. FanX is a family business, but as Farr explained, “I don’t think [they] would have felt confident in my ability to step into [this] position had I not developed the way I did at UVU.”
At UVU, entrepreneurship courses help students channel their passion into business-ready skills. Farr's entrepreneurship professor taught him how to take calculated risks and build confidence, which helped him move past doubts about his future. The relationships he formed also mattered. “Every class that I had was with a professor that made the effort ... that was definitely something that helped me get through school and get my education,” he said.
As he immersed himself in fandom culture, Farr saw attendees meeting their comic heroes and realized how meaningful these experiences were. “I want to keep creating this and keep creating these moments for people," he said. With his business skills, he was equipped to achieve that creative dream. Now, thousands of people — from fans to behind-the-scenes professionals — benefit from that skillset.
Building a Fandom of Your Own: Aaron Hall Other alumni are building audiences around their own creative work, sometimes through majors students may not expect.
Amazon bestselling author and UVU alum Aaron Hall has met fans of his own at FanX. The practical skills he developed in public relations and communications helped him promote his books to a wide audience. Today, he has half a million followers across social media, proving he is not only a master of building fictional worlds but also the real-world communities around them.
It was a journey of hard work to build up that fandom. Hall gained skills in experimenting, learning, and persevering through hands-on education — skills that help budding creators stand out. “The fantasy genre is saturated with authors breaking through and trying to do something original,” he said. But it takes more than talent to succeed. “It was [at UVU] that I learned the tools of marketing myself, finding my audience, giving them a compelling offer, and measuring the results of what happened. If I didn’t go to school [there], I would just be a guy writing in his room.”
He also described UVU as a supportive place to grow. He said that “many university classes and programs have a competitive nature ... [but UVU] felt like everything was geared toward helping us work together, build our networks, and gain the skills we needed to graduate.”
If you have a passion for filmmaking, creative writing, digital media, or any other part of the film industry, you’ll be in great company at UVU. FanX Studios, a production and distribution company associated with the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, has a unique partnership with the university. Co-founded by industry professionals Brent Baum and Jonathan Schwartz, FanX Studios presents students with exclusive access to opportunities to learn, network, and work directly with professionals shaping the future of film, television, and stage.
The partnership hosts The Greenroom Speaker Series, featuring celebrated filmmakers, directors, writers, actors, and producers. Interact closely with these professionals through VIP receptions, film screenings, and advanced workshops. If you’re still in the exploring phase, you can attend the speaker series no matter your course lineup. If you’re further along, take the Pitch Class and then apply to the Writer’s Room, where you’ll work closely with FanX Studios to develop your craft and potentially take ideas to Hollywood.
If you’re a Broadway fan aspiring to the stage, you can find equally rewarding opportunities to develop and showcase your work through FanX Studios. Last spring, UVU’s Office of Engaged Learning and Workforce Development hosted a weeklong developmental showcase of the partnership’s first original stage production, “HUMBUG! The Musical.”
To bring the musical to life, UVU students worked with renowned composer Christopher Curtis (award-winning “Chaplin”), writer Dan Studney (Emmy Award-winning “Reefer Madness”), and director Michael Wilson (Tony Award-winning “The Trip to Bountiful”). FanX Studios provided the mentorship opportunity, and UVU’s Office of Engaged Learning and Workforce Development awarded a scholarship for students to participate in an intensive workshop with the team.
Opportunities like these are exactly what the studio’s co-founders envision for the partnership. “Hopefully, this will be the first of many wonderful musical projects FanX Studios can bring to Utah and help students expand their experiential opportunities in the dramatic arts,” said Baum.
Most creatives don’t fail to make a career due to lack of talent. Often, the ones who do stand out are simply the ones who apply creative thinking to business problem-solving to promote themselves. UVU’s Creative Economy entrepreneurship course gives students credit for building their creative business, with mentorship resources to help them succeed. The course has been sponsored for years in a row by Brandon Sanderson’s publishing and media business, Dragonsteel.
Other course sections include fashion and apparel, food and beverage, and more. Whether you’re an author, illustrator, makeup artist, or cake decorator, or just want to start a business for any other creative endeavor, you’ll gain enough skills to start and grow your business here — and you may even get funding through opportunities to pitch your business to startup investors. Many students end the term with investors and capital through these hands-on courses. A nurturing environment with like-minded entrepreneurs can help you make the leap from idea to reality.
Like the alumni featured here, you’ll get to put your classroom knowledge into practice through hands-on learning that counts on your resume and in your portfolio. UVU's small class sizes help you build relationships that support your long-term career growth and make the college experience enjoyable.
Here are the steps you can take to start your journey today:
Before you know it, you'll have the skills and confidence to make your creative dream a reality.
