Jim Barrett • Woodcarving
Jim Barrett spent most of his teaching career as a woodcarving teacher eventually becoming an industrial arts teacher. He has done woodcarving for fun and for profit for approximately 30 years. He's experienced in relief carving, lettering (sign carving), caricatures and carving in the round.
Jim graduated from UMass with a degree in History and he spent his beginning career teaching that subject.
Now retired, Jim is able to continue with his love of the art full time.
We are very happy to add him to our staff this semester.
Gary Clarke • Upholstery
Gary completed his apprenticeship in upholstery at Dove & Distaff in Rhode Island. He served as the Assistant Vocational Manager at Pioneer Upholstery (teaching upholstery to mentally challenged adults), which was a program at the Center for Human Development (CHD) for close to 30 years. This program had specialized in building institutional furniture for colleges and businesses. Instruction is open studio style, beginner’s are quite welcome, as are students of all ages and ability levels. All necessary tools are provided. Students are encouraged to send Gary pictures of their project prior to class for evaluation. Don’t have a project? He has a number of “class” projects on which you can build skills and the projects are auctioned off at some point during the year. Gary is proficient in custom upholstery, window treatments, drapes and specialty sewing and teaches these skills as well.
Kathy MacLean • Chair Caning
Kathy has been teaching caning for over 25 years. Her caning also led her to a hobby in making Nantucket baskets. She has been teaching at the Center for over 20 years. This is also an open studio style of instruction, Kathy teaches beginners to more advanced students. Kathy encourages a new student to stop in with their project a few weeks prior to class so that they may order all necessary supplies. She teaches caning, shaker tape, and woven/rush styles.
Odette Nunes-Turcotte Sewing and Machine Embroidery
A life-long maker, Odette has crafted with fabrics since she learned to sew as a child. She taught sewing to middle school teens as part of a pre-vocational program and now sews for her own businesses: OMarie for Dogs and Baby Mine. Odette’s goal is to pass on her skills to others who enjoy the creative process and have a desire to learn. She is committed to growing the program at HCAC and will be adding additional classes and full day workshops in the near future.
A former middle school teacher and 4/5 grade interventionist, Odette has a BA in Education from Boston College and advanced degrees from both UMASS and Framingham State University.