MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Aug. 6, 2008) — According to the survivors of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse, recovery is about building bridges, not fences.

During a gathering at the Waite House Neighborhood Center and Hope Community, more than 50 young artists, including many of the students that were on the school bus that was caught in the middle of the bridge collapse over the Mississippi River last year, unveiled the mural depicting their experiences.

At least 13 people were killed and 145 injured during the collapse last year, in which a charter school bus from the Waite House carrying 52 children and 9 adults home from a swimming trip became stranded.

According to Molly Shcwartz, director of marketing and communications for Pilsbury United Connections, Waite House Program Manager Julie Graves, who was on the bus, and Chaka Mkali, a teen program coordinator and organizor at Hope Community, came up with the project to give students a means to express their feelings in a powerful and public way. Theresa Sweetland, a friend and colleague with community art center Intermedia Arts, offered the walls of the Intermedia Arts building for the project.