Tanya Maute Installation Site

Creator

Claudia Tracy, Ursinus College

Preview

Creation Date

Spring 2025

Description

Digital photograph of the interior of the Floy Lewis Bakes Center on the Ursinus College campus. Student photographs of staff, such as Tanya Maute, were created for a documentary photography class and temporarily installed around campus as part of the Spring 2025 COSA celebration.

Panel Text

If you visit Tanya, the supervisor of Fresh Fix, it doesn’t take long to see her incredibly hard work ethic. Tanya has worked at Ursinus since 2003, but only recently was moved to Fresh Fix in 2021. Since then, Fresh Fix has seen an upwards of 300 orders a day. Despite this demand, Tanya has made it her goal to get to know the students, and the particularities of their orders. Whether they have a peanut allergy, or if they always order chocolate chips on their smoothie bowl, she notices. For Tanya, it is interacting with students and providing them with delicious food that brings her satisfaction at work. She believes that food is the best way “to please a soul”. Ursinus students love the welcoming staff and the healthy meals over at Fresh Fix. Her energy truly keeps the place moving even when they are overwhelmed with students’ orders.

When she isn’t hard at work, she loves to spend her time outside. Whether it’s gardening, hiking, or simply sitting outdoors, nature is what brings her the most peace. She and her boyfriend like to go for long walks through local parks, especially French Creek and Green Lane, but they are always on the lookout for a new trail to explore. Alongside her love for nature, Tanya deeply values her family. She is grateful that they all live within the area, so she can “borrow” her 6 nieces and 5 nephews, who range from kindergarten to college students. Tanya has a special bond with her youngest nephew who she calls “chicken nugget” and has been watching since he was born.

Tanya and I visited a local nursery, Greenridge Garden. This is a quaint place that Tanya frequently passes on her drive home. However, we ultimately decided to take her portrait at the infamous Ott’s Exotic Plants. The air smelled earthy and refreshing as we both walked around in awe of the seemingly unending variety of plants and flowers. Tanya is looking forward to starting her garden back up for the spring and summer. In recent years she has tried to grow tomatoes, but her favorite plant to grow is flowers. She especially loves pansies. Tanya spends much of her time nourishing others—her plants, her nieces and nephews, and the students here at Ursinus.

Rights

Copyright of the underlying work is held by the artist. The digital image presented here is for educational purposes only and is not for commercial use.