When at Marquette for a college visit, did you ever wonder who created those brochures or the tote bag handed to you? Or, what about the new life-size Iggy in the AMU? Who is behind these displays that represent Marquette?
The answer is Karen Parr—Marquette’s Creative Director.
For the past 10 years, Parr has been the mind behind the Marquette brand that students see on their first tour and continue to encounter every day.
As the creative director, she is responsible for coordinating many of the creative displays seen on Marquette’s campus and beyond. Whether the idea comes from her or someone from her team, she helps execute the plan to get the project in motion.
Parr’s roots come from Erie, Pennsylvania, where she was one of six kids and raised in the Catholic Church. She attended Catholic grade schools, then attended Michigan State University, where she earned her first bachelor’s degree in psychology.
After completing her degree, she joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps—known as the JVC, a one-year post-graduate volunteer program that works with marginalized populations—and used her interest in social work to serve at a women’s domestic violence shelter in Kansas City.
The combination of social work and Catholic values resonated with Parr.
“It [Catholicism] was an important part of our family,” Parr said. “Catholicism was very rooted in doing things for others and doing good in the world, so it felt like the JVC built on that.”
At 25, Parr decided she would go back to school to get a degree in graphic design from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“I had always been interested in art during my childhood, but I had never thought about it as work or a career,” Parr said.
After completing her second bachelor’s degree, Parr began working in advertising for the experience, but her consumer-driven work often left her conflicted. She found herself asking the questions: “How do we live our best life? How do we consume things?”
Eventually, Parr left advertising and moved to freelance work. She was able to work with non-profits that aligned with the values she grew up with and embraced at the JVC.
This work led her to Marquette, drawing her back to the Jesuit values.
“To me, coming back to a Jesuit institution and doing work for them is important to me,” Parr said. “It means something; it feels purposeful.”
Parr’s passion for Jesuit values and doing good in the world continues in her work at Marquette, often finding different ways to communicate the Jesuit mission to current and prospective students.
During the 2024-2025 school year, Parr worked closely with Rev. Ryan G. Duns, S.J., to create a poster for “Ignatian Imagination,” the Ignatian theme for the school year. The theme encouraged students to imagine what the year may have in store for them.
Beyond students, Parr is always considering how to incorporate Jesuit and Ignatian values into their work at the Office of Marketing and Communication for prospective students.
She said that many people do not understand the Jesuit mission when they arrive at Marquette unless they went to a Jesuit high school.
“How do we tell incoming students, or juniors in high school, what does it mean to go to a Jesuit college?” Parr said. “How is it different from others?”
Marketing and artwork around campus aims to exhibit students interacting with each other—whether in tour brochures or in the AMU clubs and organizations display—showing how the Jesuit values emphasize community.
Most recently, Parr’s work can be seen on the Central Mall sidewalks.
In collaboration with the Haggerty Art Museum, Parr helped create a public display of “Life Lines,” an exhibit currently on display at the Haggerty.
Titled “Walk the Line,” the display contains pieces from the exhibit graphic, with black chalk lines drawn out from the center of the piece and down the sidewalks.
Parr worked closely with Father Duns on the display, as his class—Contemplation and Action—is studying the exhibit for the semester.
“I loved what he [Father Duns] was trying to get at,” Parr said. “Reflecting on what you see, let time go by, looking at it again and asking, ‘How does it change you?'”
Parr’s work would not be possible without collaboration with her team. Her responsibilities range from assigning roles that ensure the current project is properly executed to contacting external vendors to see how they can install displays, including “Walk the Line.”
Parr’s work continues to exemplify the Ignatian values she grew to love at JVC, while inspiring prospective and current Marquette students in the creative work displayed on campus.
This story was written by MaryKate Stepchuk. She can be reached at [email protected].
