Community involved in remembrance events; create mural

A group of volunteers and local residents created a mural in remembrance and response to the tragedy of Sept. 11 at Peoples Park late Wednesday afternoon.\nAs part of Bloomington\'s Week of Caring, Anna Gilmore, youth projects coordinator of Bloomington Parks and Recreation, headed a project called "People respond and remember 9/11." \n"The idea behind the murals is to give people a chance, if they want, to express themselves about the happenings of Sept. 11," Gilmore said.\nThe mural is a busy piece of art with peace signs, stamps of hearts, a picture of the world and a group of stamped people holding hands with the phrase "respect and understanding" underneath. \nGilmore said she felt the mural portrayed a visual of how the world was going to get better. \n"The kids wanted to encourage our community to express hopes for the future and views of unity through art," she said. "We believe this kind of project promotes positive and healthy discussions about how our community can fit into the global community." \nThe art on the mural was made by both children and adults, Gilmore said. \n"I felt it was important to come out and contribute," said local resident Jesse Bunnell, as he was finishing up drawing a peace sign.\nGilmore said this project was seen as a way to remember what happened last year in a positive and unity-building way. \nAfter the murals are sealed they will hang for about a month in Peoples Park. \nBefore the mural painting, Gilmore was also present at the public memorial at Seminary Square Park.\n"The purpose of the memorial was our moment of silence without being silent," she said.\nThe event took place at 7:45 a.m. to symbolize the same time the first plane hit the World Trade Center. \nAs another part of Bloomington's Week of Caring, members of the community met later that night at the First United Methodist Church and then joined the IU candlelight vigil at Dunn Meadow.\nReligious studies professor Kevin Jaques teaches a class called "Islam in America" and said he used his last hour of class to take his students to the vigil. He said his students wanted to do something to mark the occasion. \n"This is also an opportunity to show the interplay of Islam in America," Jaques said. \nThe speakers focused on diversity and said that the prayers at First Methodist Church were from a variety of religions and languages. The speakers also urged the crowd to pray for peace and understanding.\n"Today was an important day that I shouldn't let pass," Rabbi of Beth Shalom Mira Wassman said. "I was moved by the religious groups that came together."\nAndrew Apple, a singer in the Unitarian choir, commented on how large the group was this year. He said last year, four days after Sept. 11, a similar vigil was held but not as many people were present. \nApple said he came to the remembrance event this time to celebrate Bloomington's acceptance of other cultures and said he thought the city handled the anniversary of Sept. 11 well. \n"I was encouraged to attend the vigil by the lack of hate crimes in Bloomington since it was such a diverse community," he said.