Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over

Placeholder author icon
By Nell Painter

Published June 26, 2018

Author Nell Painter spent 30 years as an eminent historian, including 17 years at Princeton. Then she changed direction – retired, went to art school, got an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, started working as a painter, and wrote Old in Art School (Counterpoint) about navigating the change from professor back to student and how art has transformed her thoughts.

Paw in print

Image
An inside look up the inside of a building, with four floors and a dinosaur skeleton visible.
The Latest Issue

April 2026

Inside the new ES and SEAS complex; kudos for austerity; jazz at Princeton.