Russell Bowers, who strives to inspire others through his art and his politics, added meticulous details as he sculpted the 8-foot monument that is now central to the newly remodeled Mormon Battalion Battalion Historic Site in Old Town San Diego. Photograph courtesy of Russell Bowers.

While art and politics may seem like strange bedfellows, the combination continues to be the lifework of four-generation Arizonan, Russell "Rusty" Bowers. Now a member of the Superior Branch, Globe Stake, Brother Bowers uses both to inspire and encourage others to live more righteous, committed lives.

One of his most recent works, a heroic-size bronze representation of one of the men who made the historic 2,000-mile march of the Mormon Battalion, is helping to attract record numbers of visitors to the Church's newly remodeled Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town San Diego. Since its reopening and dedication in March, more than 40,000 visitors have toured the facility, says site director Elder Timothy S. Evans. Brother Bowers' magnificent work is an 8 foot, 1,000-lb statue, sculpted to be accurate in physical detail, from the tattered clothing and ragged demeanor to the military accoutrements.

This statue comes on the heels of another memorial that Rusty was commissioned by the Church to create in 2006. The Martin's Cove Memorial, located in Wyoming near the Sweetwater River, actually began in 1997.

At that time, President Gordon B. Hinckley, in a General Priesthood session, talked about the Martin Handcart Company and what is now referred to as the Sweetwater Rescue. President Hinckley recounted the story, telling, particularly, of the bravery and selflessness of four young men who carried people across the icy river on their backs.

"As President Hinckley talked, his voice broke when he was speaking," Brother Bowers says. "I felt right then that a monument needed to be made for these young men."

It took nine years, but the commission was ultimately granted, and 10 months later, in time for the sesquicentennial of the event, Rusty completed the three massive sculptures that make up the memorial.

For one sculpture, he used the likeness of David P Kimball, who lives in Phoenix and is the great grandson of David Patten Kimball, one of the boys involved in the Sweetwater Rescue.

Rusty says, "The whole experience was profound for everyone concerned." He adds, "It has been a very spiritual experience," to work on these monuments and others. Other work includes the busts of prominent Arizona politicians and the Veterans' Memorial at the State Capitol.

"As a little boy my mother encouraged me to draw to keep me quiet in Church," says Rusty. "That encouragement has always been there, and gratefully so."

Since 1978, after serving in the Northern Mexico Mission and graduating with a fine art degree from Brigham Young University, he says, "The majority of my income has been through art."

He and his wife lived in Mesa many years, where they raised seven children. They now have six grandchildren.

Over those years of working as an artist, Russell Bowers also worked as a public servant, in hopes of inspiring greater goodness and adherence to the Constitution.

In 1992, Bowers made a successful bid for the state legislature. He served four years in the House of Representatives and five years in the Senate, before resigning in 2001.

This year, Brother Bowers is back on the campaign trail, choosing to run for a Congressional seat in District 1.

"I felt with the current situation and the effect that has on our children and our country, I needed to run," he says. "The focus of my campaign is that the values of the Constitution, the values of home and family, the values of faith, have been diminished in our lives. Because of this, we see the challenges we do in our society."

He adds, "These things we should absolutely turn back-and we can."

Running in a district the size of Pennsylvania, with 200 little municipalities, has been somewhat daunting and the travel schedule brutal, but "I've met some wonderful people, people of many different religious persuasions. They've been a great blessing to me and I hope I am to them."

Rusty says, in many ways, art and politics really are similar.

"In both, you have to have balance, have to know all the component parts."

With both, he says, you have to have the attitude, "It can be done. It takes work, effort and understanding. But, that's the faith we're using as we run. 'It can be done.'"