For the past 19 years, Anne Flora quite literally has been serving the U-M community. She started her career as service supervisor in the East Quad Dining Services, and also has worked as food service manager at the Executive Residence, and food service director at the Michigan Union and Pierpont Commons. Flora moved to the department known as University Unions in 1994 and has been there since.

Flora, also a cookbook collector and artist, is director of University Unions Food Services. She manages onsite and offsite catering at the Michigan League, the Michigan Union, Pierpont Commons, one restaurant, three cafeterias, a sandwich shop and a coffee house. She also is involved with the planning of a convenience store in Pierpont Commons scheduled to open in 2004, as well as the commons building for the Life Sciences Institute.

Her hobby of collecting cookbooks does not stray far from her professional life. “I have acquired nearly one whole wall of cookbooksnearly 800 of them,” Flora says. “I don’t have any one favorite book, but I have to say that regional Italian cuisine is my favorite type of food.” As well as being an interesting hobby, Flora’s collection provides a reference library for her work.

Flora’s other love is art. A graduate of the University of Iowa, she began graduate school in intaglio printmaking, a technique through which the ink forming the design is printed only from recessed areas of the plate. Examples include etching and engraving. She soon left to pursue an art career in New York City. For many years, Flora’s work was shown in competitions and galleries in Europe, South America and Australia, as well as the United States.

Although she stopped doing printmaking more than 20 years ago and went back to school in culinary management, Flora says that up until five years ago she “felt a certain void” in her life. “I then took ceramic tile workshops from the owners of Motawi Tiles based in Ann Arbor,” Flora says. “Ever since that time, I kept learning more about ceramics and fiber arts.” Currently, she participates in craft shows, a first for her, and she shows her work in a couple of galleries.

As of Feb. 1, Flora will retire from her job at U-M. Instead of the standard retirement party, Flora will leave the University a bit differently. Beginning Jan. 30, Flora’s work will be showing in the Michigan Union Art Lounge, 7 a.m.- 2 a.m. Monday-Saturday and 9 a.m.-2 a.m. Sunday.