Voice of the Artist: Nell Painter

Join us for a special Voice of the Artist talk in collaboration with the Lemon Project and University Libraries.

Leading American historian Nell Irvin Painter is the author of many books, including Sojourner Truth, Creating Black Americans and The History of White People. In her 2018 book, Old in Art School, Painter recounts her journey from scholar to artist including her enrollment in the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. There, she became a student again in her 60s and continues as a working, professional artist in her 80s. Painter will discuss the struggles in making a late-life pivot and the obstacles and biases she was up against as she pursued her dream of becoming an artist. Further, she will discuss the intersection of history and art making as it applies to her work and her upcoming essay collection, I Just Keep Talking (Doubleday, March 2024).

This talk will take place in Commonwealth Auditorium in William & Mary’s Sadler Center.