Barbara Frey has a BFA in ceramics from Indiana University and an MFA in ceramics from Syracuse University. She taught ceramics for forty years at State University of New York, Oswego, and Texas A&M University, Commerce, retiring in 2018. She was the recipient of the 2013 National Council of Education in the Ceramic Arts Excellence in Teaching Award in recognition of a career devoted to teaching ceramics. Her work has been widely exhibited and is included in many private and public collections including the Everson Museum; the Icheon World Ceramic Center, Korea; de Young Museum, San Francisco; San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin; the Kohler Company corporate collection, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; the John Michael Kohler Arts Center permanent collection, Sheboygan, Wisconsin; and The Kamm Foundation Teapot Collection, Statesville, North Carolina. 

“I believe in the powerful potential of art objects to resonate seductive beauty and meaning, all wrapped up in one enticing package. To hold someone spellbound is quite an accomplishment and that intensity of experience is one of the special functions that art can offer. The enduring attraction of making art is the adventure of not knowing the answer and not knowing where a particular idea will lead. It is a significant privilege to create something that has never before existed in the world and to be the first person to see it. I particularly love the enduring art form of ceramics that has played such a vital role in human history for millennia. My own lifelong journey in the world of ceramics has been immensely fascinating and fulfilling. It is an honor to be a small part of this great skein of human endeavor.”