The Homer Council on the Arts board of directors has hired a new executive director, Peggy Paver of Ashland, Ore., and a new operations and programs coordinator, Austin Parkhill of Barrow.  Parkhill arrives in Homer in June to work with current director Gail Edgerly before she leaves. Parkhill starts work on June 15 after he and his wife, Caitlin, move here from Barrow.

Paver has worked for 25 years as a dance educator, director and choreographer in both public education and the nonprofit sector. As co-founder and co-artistic director of Dancing People Company in Ashland, she developed community and school residency programs. She also taught as an adjunct professor and master teacher throughout the Pacific Northwest, Southwest and Central Australia.

“I am grateful for the circumstances that have brought me to HCOA, and I’m looking forward to the possibilities for Homer’s vibrant art community,” Paver said in a press release.

Parkhill was born and raised in Colorado and grew up playing competitive hockey. He studied fine art and anthropology at Colorado State University. After graduating from college, Parkhill and his wife, Caitlin, spent a few years in Boston for work and school before taking jobs with Ilisagvik College in Barrow.