When he was 22, he moved to Cleveland where he enrolled in the Cleveland School of Art (today known as the Cleveland Institute of Art). Travis studied there for five years, where he became a protégé of Henry Keller, and also encountered Charles Burchfield and Frank N. Wilcox, all of whom later became acknowledged members of the Cleveland School. Travis remained friends with Burchfield and Wilcox for the rest of his life.

When he returned from France in 1920, he accepted a teaching position at the Cleveland School of Art, where he taught for 38 years. He also began submitting his artwork to the May Show, an annual exhibition of local artists sponsored by the Cleveland Museum of Art. He first submitted to the May Show in 1920, and the following year he won first prize for an etching of the Chartres Cathedral. By the end of his life, Travis had entered his artwork into 50 May Show exhibitions.