Ocepek became a professor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces in 1985, establishing a flourishing graphic design program, as well as teaching printmaking and other fine art courses. He assisted in establishing the graduate program and served as Department Head for six years. Ocepek was awarded the Westhafer Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2000.
He is a dedicated studio artist, working in a variety of media, exhibiting regularly in group and solo exhibitions throughout the country, including solo exhibitions at the Portland Art Museum and the El Paso Museum of Art. His work is included in the public art collections of Oregon, Washington, Texas and New Mexico.
Ocepek’s design work has been included in many publications and exhibitions, including Graphis International and Graphis International Posters, Zurich, Switzerland, the New York Society of Illustrators, and the International Exhibition of Poster Art in Brno, Czechoslovakia. In 2002, his book, Graphic Design: Vision, Process, Product was published by Prentice Hall Incorporated.
In 2021 Ocepek’s solo exhibition titled Nexus, New Work brought drawing, painting and digital imagery together as limited edition prints.
