Freida Hamm was born February 18, 1935 in Selmer, TN to Hester (Graham) Hollis and John Hollis, and she was raised by Irene (Graham) and Charles Moore. Freida studied at the Memphis College of Art in 1981. She graduated in 1984 and won the most prestigious honor awarded to a graduating senior: The Memphis College of Art Traveling Fellowship. This award enabled her to study John Constable, a British landscape painter of the late 18th early 19th century, in Colchester, England. After traveling abroad, she realized the importance of travel in finding her next inspiration. Freida went on the earn a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Memphis in 1985, her first show being at Alice Bingham Gallery in 1985.