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Old in Art School cover art

Old in Art School

By: Nell Painter
Narrated by: Nell Painter
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Publisher's Summary

Following her retirement from Princeton University, celebrated historian Dr. Nell Irvin Painter surprised everyone in her life by returning to school - in her 60s - to earn a BFA and MFA in painting. In Old in Art School, she travels from her beloved Newark to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design; finds meaning in the artists she loves, even as she comes to understand how they may be undervalued; and struggles with the unstable balance between the pursuit of art and the inevitable, sometimes painful, demands of a life fully lived.

How are women and artists seen and judged by their age, looks, and race? What does it mean when someone says, "You will never be an artist?" Who defines what "an artist" is and all that goes with such an identity, and how are these ideas tied to our shared conceptions of beauty, value, and difference?

Old in Art School is Nell Painter's ongoing exploration of those crucial questions. Bringing to bear incisive insights from two careers, Painter weaves a frank, funny, and often surprising tale of her move from academia to art.

A Library Journal Editor's Pick for Spring. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Nell Painter (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Old in Art School

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Excellent

first class. art, generation gap, mortality, aging, history, race, feminism. all done superbly. big tick

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An Ordinary story about a self entitled American.

This is a boring story about an accomplished woman who wanted more and wined a lot when life gets in the way of her need for constant affirmation.

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1 person found this helpful

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Great reassuring romp for anyone looking to start a new career in visual arts and attend art school.

Best enjoyed after a long successful career - in anything but visual arts! As a scientist a business owner and now a undergraduate student of visual arts this spoke reassuringly to me.

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Enjoyable

This is more a biography than a guide to being an older artist. Enjoyed it but wondering, the authors academic credentials, amazing as their are, had more bearing on her entry into art school as a mature age student than it should have

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