CCA alum and longtime faculty member Viola Frey's sculpture finds a new home in Arkansas

September 21, 2026

Thinking Woman, a 1993 ceramic sculpture by Viola Frey, has joined the permanent collection at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Viola Frey's Thinking Woman, a large ceramic seated figure resting her cheek on her hand, in the Windgate Center lobby at UA Little Rock with students nearby.

Thinking Woman (1993) by Viola Frey, a CCA alum and longtime faculty member, at UA Little Rock's Windgate Center for Art + Design. Photo by Benjamin Krain, courtesy of UA Little Rock

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has added Thinking Woman, a 1,600-pound ceramic figure by Viola Frey, to its art collection. Assembled from 16 pieces and donated by Dr. Kirby and Priscilla Smith of Memphis, the sculpture now greets students and visitors at the university's Windgate Center for Art + Design. Frey earned her BFA and an honorary doctorate from California College of the Arts and taught there for more than three decades, influencing generations of artists and helping establish clay as a medium for large-scale figurative sculpture. Gallery director Brian Young says the work supports the school's emphasis on contemporary craft and shows students what ceramics can achieve at scale.