I found the article "Different strokes by foreign folks," about international artists in the Fargo-Moorhead area very interesting.
The story about Izudin Becic, who is carving furniture for his living room in order to show people a typical Bosnian home, got me thinking about a place in Pittsburgh where 24 rooms display the ethnic diversity of that community.
The rooms are all located in the Cathedral of Learning, a building of classrooms on the University of Pittsburgh campus. They are open to the public after school hours and they make a fascinating tour. Everything in the rooms is typical of the country represented and was furnished by members of that ethnic group. The Chinese room, for example, features a large round table surrounded by ornately carved chairs, which reveals the Chinese view that teaching is a two-way street. The professor also learns from the students.
All classrooms, as I recall, feature paintings of some of the most influential leaders of that country. Sometimes the walls are decorated, as in the Swedish and Norwegian rooms. The Polish room features an ornately carved ceiling, and the Armenian room appears to be carved out of stone. To tour these rooms is a wonderful learning experience, and it appears that the students who use the rooms value them because they are in good condition, although they were installed quite a few years ago. They are quite a tourist attraction in the Pittsburgh area.
How great it would be if the Fargo-Moorhead area could have a similar place to showcase the diversity in its community.
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Claudia B. Loll
Battle Lake, Minn.
