Donated to History Colorado by Colorado photographer, Cat Mayer. Mayer is a Colorado native and the great-niece of Jac Kephart.
The photographs were taken on March 28, 2018 at Jac Kephart's studio in Grand Junction, Colorado. Kephart is a Colorado painter and mixed media artist. He grew up and lived in Grand Junction and graduated from Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University), where he earned the Artist of the Year award in 1958 and 1959. He has also served many years on the Colorado Mesa University board.
Kephart's work is based on his experiences living in Colorado. He wants the viewer to have an emotional connection with his work. Abstract landscapes, his pieces are not meant to document specific places or subjects. Kephart uses metallics, aluminum, copper, brass sheets, gold leafing,tars, burlap and rusty metal, including old tin cans, for texture. He then applies several coats of transparent and opaque paints and sands portions of the composition so that earlier layers show through. (For more artist information, see artist CV and profile in accession file for 2019.2.1)