When Jack Hart was 15 years old, he quit school because he figured he knew everything. It’s only now at age 74, that he’s discovered how much more he has to learn. 

Since retiring and selling his business a few years ago, he’s become an undergraduate student at NSCAD University—taking one or two classes a semester. He’s on track to graduate by the time he’s 80. 

“When I retired, I needed to find something to do with myself. If I had any idea what the heck goes on here, I probably would have bolted and ran like hell,” says the transplanted Torontonian with a chuckle. 

Thinking he was interested in painting, he instead discovered an affinity for printmaking—the physical process and the mechanics of it appeal to him. “Every time you run something through the press, it can be surprise. It’s never exactly as planned and there are all kinds of happy accidents.”

He recalls attending a print show and sale at Seeds Gallery. The opening was packed—“it was shoulder to shoulder”—and he saw a woman make her way through the crowd to the cash register with one of his prints in hand. He couldn’t help but be proud.

“It was a good feeling, no question,” says Jack, adding that he still doesn’t think of himself as an artist. “I’d say I’m a better technician and I see art differently today than I did before, but no I wouldn’t say I’m an artist. But maybe that will come.”

For now, he’s content to drink in all the learning that he can and puzzle over problems with people the same age of his grandchildren. His life has never been richer or fuller.

“My golf game has suffered,” he says with a shrug. “But then it wasn’t going anywhere any way.”