Episode No. 440 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast is an Easter weekend and Passover holiday clips edition featuring author and artist Nell Painter.

Nell Painter is the author of Old in Art School: A Memoir of Starting Over. The “starting over” of the title refers to Painter’s retirement after a career as a top Ivy League historian to return to college as a sixty-something student — first to take undergraduate studio art courses at Rutgers, then to pursue an MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. Painter’s memoir, which was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle award, details her interactions with students and faculty, and how she tried to think through how to make art after having spent decades teaching and writing history.

Before going to art school, Painter was one of America’s most distinguished historians. She is the Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, at Princeton University. Her books include Standing at Armageddon, Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol, and the New York Times bestseller The History of White People. She is a past president of both the Organization of American Historians and the Southern Historical Association. Earlier this year, Painter assumed the chairmanship of The MacDowell Colony.

Old in Art School came out in paperback late last year; Amazon offers the Kindle edition for just $4.

Air date: April 9, 2020.