Jac Kephart and Jack Porter: A Campus Collection

The friendship that left its mark on CMU’s art and architecture

No one can recall exactly how Jack Porter met Jac Kephart, or how Kephart met Porter. These things just happen in a small town. What is certain is that Porter became a respected architect and Kephart a celebrated artist, and the two remained lifelong friends. In fact, each imagined himself in the other’s shoes. Porter had aspired to be an artist, while Kephart once dreamed of becoming an architect. Their wives remember countless hours of conversation about the two professions that shaped their lives and their friendship. 

Jack Porter was born in Grand Junction in 1929 and attended Mesa State College as a basketball player. As an architect, his ideas were baked into Lowell Heiny Hall, the World War II Veterans Memorial Bell Tower, the Saunders Field House and the vocational building. Beyond the university, he was the primary architect for projects around Grand Junction, including Walker Field Airport, Coors Porcelain, the Grand Junction Library conversion and so many more. 

In addition to being an architect during the 1950s through the 1970s, Porter was a thespian, booster club member and president of the Scholarship Foundation. Porter even played an instrumental role in Mesa State College transitioning to Colorado Mesa University. 

Jac Kephart was a fine arts artist, who also attended Mesa State College. He explored art of every medium during his career — from oil paintings to large sculptures. His art was exhibited at galleries in Colorado and across the west. From 1970 to 1997, Kephart and his wife, Patricia (Pat) ran Jac’s Flowers in Grand Junction. The entrance to the store contained beautiful bouquets and florals, while at the back of the store there existed a quasi-art gallery where paintings could be found amongst the flowers. 

While Porter’s impact at CMU can be seen on the outside, such as the buildings that he helped create, Kephart’s influence is found on the inside. In his lifetime, Kephart donated more than 40 pieces of art to CMU. His collections can be viewed in Houston Hall, Wubben Hall & Science Center, Lowell Heiny Hall, the University Center, Dominguez Hall, Confluence Hall and the Health Science Building. 

In 2021, CMU’s fine arts building donned Kephart’s name, becoming the Jac Kephart Fine Arts Building. The university also created a self-guided tour of his artwork, called the Kephart Campus Collection Tour, which includes a dedicated gallery in The Art Center of Western Colorado. 

While both men have passed, their wives continue their friendship, ensuring the legacy of Kephart art does not fade. 

“I want everybody to see Jac’s art,” said Pat. 

Porter and his wife, Pauline, were great admirers and buyers of Kephart’s art. Pauline’s home contains dozens of paintings, though it now lacks the one she “regretfully” parted with. 

Decades prior, when the Porters resided in Arizona, They remodeled their kitchen and wanted to include his office space in the kitchen’s alcove. A discussion ensued about how unsightly the cluttered office would look right next to the new, modern kitchen. 

Ever the innovator, Porter came home a few days later with four doors. He was going to simply close off the alcove behind the doors. Shortly after he showed Pauline the doors, Kephart walked in. He listened to their situation and asked if he can take the doors: He had an idea. 

A few months later, Kephart returned with the doors — only now they’ve been transformed into Kephart art. 

Pauline recalled seeing her husband standing on the road, crying, as he looked at what Kephart had done. He’d created a masterpiece that represented their friendship. 

Since her husband’s passing, Pauline has moved into a smaller home, still adorned with Kephart art, but had no place to hang these doors, which spanned 10 feet when combined. So, she donated the art to CMU. The doors now hang in the event space in the Asteria Theatre next to other pieces of Kephart’s work. The doors serve as a symbol of the friendship and the mutual respect between both Jack Porter and Jac Kephart, a tangible piece of their shared creativity. 

“I walked into the room, having grieved about the fact that I’d given it away — I did grieve — and it’s beautiful there. It’s a signature piece,” said Pauline. “I’m just thrilled. The fact that the room will be used by people, not just people from the university, makes it that much better for me. I haven’t lost it. I can visit any time I want to.” 

Both Pat and Pauline recall Kephart’s thirst for art — his passion, obsession and drive for “the next great thing.” As an artist he was never satisfied, but that fueled his creativity and interest in multiple mediums, including oil painting, watercolor, collages and sculptures. 

“The driving purpose in his life was to be an artist and keep exploring. He was very experimental, and he did a lot of different types of work. It was an obsession,” recalled Pat. 

“He was an artist who was trying to do something that had never been done before,” echoed Pauline about Kephart’s devotion to his craft. 

Kephart related that drive to the rungs of a ladder, where he kept getting better and better with each medium, each piece. The wives described Kephart’s art as periods, marked by the type of art he was trying at the time. 

“He’s probably off painting the clouds now,” mused Pauline. 

Art and architecture, professions of innovation, were topics that Porter and Kephart never tired of discussing. Theirs was a friendship bound by creativity. The beauty they created is ever present on CMU’s campus.