Art critic and curator Robert Storr, incoming dean of the Yale School of Art, sings UC Davis' praises in a column appearing in the September issue of Frieze magazine, self-described as "Europe's leading magazine of contemporary art and culture."

Storr wrote that UC Davis, where he once lectured, "boasts a lively art department and a small but active museum that has a collection that includes works by people who have taught at or attended Davis."

During a tour of museum storage, Storr wrote, he came upon two unfired ceramics: Cup and Saucer Falling Over and Cup Merging with Its Saucer, both crafted in 1965 by Bruce Nauman, then a teaching assistant in Wayne Thiebaud's drawing classes.

"As unprepossessing as they may seem, Nauman's cups are remarkable … for what they presage in his own work, from the photos and films of spilt coffee cups to his large-format plaster and fiberglass rings and tunnels of the 1980s onward."

Storr continued: "It's a pity that there are so few collections of this kind around. At Yale … none seems to exist. Yet generations of artists have been turned out there, and over the years several shows of signature work by alumni have been mounted to celebrate them."