College of Fine Arts grieves the death of Tanya Tandoc
"The College of Fine Arts is grieving the loss of one of its own, Tanya Tandoc. Tanya was an artist. She was a chef who approached food as an art. She was a graduate of the WSU ceramics program, she played cello, she danced, and she encouraged and helped other artists. Everything she did she did as an artist. That artistic attitude was partially responsible for her openness and acceptance of others.
She was also a Wichitan. She, and the life she led, made Wichita a far better place to live. She enhanced the quality of people's lives who had never met her or even knew who she was -- because of the artistic things she did to make Wichita a more livable community. She is a symbol for thousands of other artists at work in this community, people who enhance your life and mine on a daily basis without our giving them the notice they deserve.
In her own unique way, Tanya is irreplaceable, and this tragedy leaves a hole in the fabric of our culture that will not soon be mended. Her death, however, reminds us of the richness of that fabric that she helped to weave and how indispensable she and people like her are to the health and happiness of every person in this community. Her greatest legacy will be the perpetuation of that happiness as we carry on the work she started."