Born in 1937 in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, MacNutt attended Mount Allison University in the 1950s, and practiced social work for forty years. Her passion was always to create, and, when she received Canada Council funding in 1999, she left social work to become a full-time artist. She has since been inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts and become a Master Artisan of Craft Nova Scotia and a member of the International Sculpture Center and Visual Arts Nova Scotia. Having exhibited in over a hundred shows, from the local to the international, MacNutt’s work graces many permanent collections, including those of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Canadian Museum of History, the Owens Art Gallery, MSVU Art Gallery, the Museum of Arts and Design (New York), LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, New York, and the NCC Crown Collection. She lives in Pictou County, Nova Scotia.