Two Utah artists have been selected by the Utah State Capitol Preservation Board to paint the four murals for the Senate and House of Representative Chambers in the renovated Utah State Capitol Building.

Keith Bond of River Heights will be painting two murals in the Senate Chamber and David Koch of Richmond will be painting two murals in the House of Representative Chamber.

Bond, whose paintings evoke feelings of reverence for the landscape, recently returned to his native Utah after spending nearly 8 years in Texas.

"Utah is so inspiring in her landscape," Bond says. "There is a tremendous amount of beauty and variety. I feel honored to be able to paint murals of the
place I love for our great State Capitol Building. "I hope these paintings will inspire the public for generations to treasure and protect the landscape we have been blessed with. This is truly an awesome project."

Bond will be painting one mural of the deserts and canyons of Southern Utah. The other mural will depict fruit orchards beneath the snow capped mountains of Northern Utah.

While living in Texas, Bond was commissioned by the LDS Church to paint an 11 panel mural for the San Antonio Texas Temple. He also has paintings in many notable collections around the country, including the South Texas Cancer Center, and the Museum of Church History and Art. Bond has participated in many invitational, juried, group and one man exhibits around the country. He has also won several awards for his work. His art can be seen at keithbond.com.

Koch received a BA in Art from Utah State University and has studied with professional artists. David exhibits his art in galleries in Bountiful, Salt Lake City and St. George Utah and also in Sun Valley Idaho. His work is included in many local and national collections including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary Michael Leavitt, Zions Bank, and the Nauvoo Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. David Koch's website is davidkochartist.com.

Koch, who is known for his historical paintings, says that he is enjoys the process of recreating an historical scene from research to costuming. "The historical paintings seem to come to life as I paint them. It gives me a feeling that I am experiencing the event. I hope the viewer will also have the same experience. I consider it a great honor to be chosen for such an historical project." says Koch, "I feel the responsibility to create a piece of art that will communicate to viewers for years to come."

In November 2007, the Utah State Capitol Building will complete its historic Capitol Restoration and Base Isolation Project. The murals will be unveiled during a public open house celebrating the completion of the project and the re-opening of the "People's House".