Homer Council on the Arts

Hope Finkelstein's work in community arts began at age 8 when her father asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up.

"I want to help people be creative together" she responded.

Hope became the Executive Director of the Homer Council on the Arts in October 2006. At Cornell University, she designed an individualized curriculum exploring the role arts play in developing community. She then received her Masters degree from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York in American Community Studies with her thesis documenting Augusta Savage and the Harlem Community Center, a leader of the WPA Federal Arts Projects in the 1930's.

Hope worked as a museum educator for many years at the Queens Museum, Bronx Museum and through an organization called Constitution Works at Federal Hall in NYC. Devoted to community spaces and local resources, she founded Growing Power, a nationally recognized organization supporting Community Food Systems.

After moving to Homer with her family 8 years ago, she helped to organize the Homer Community Garden. Now, home in Homer she is humbled by the energy that surrounds her, devoting her commitment to the positive role the Homer Council on the Arts plays in creating community through the arts.

Carol Dees first became involved with HCOA through the Kenai Peninsula MASST program: Mature Adults Seeking Skills Training. While working with staff on office tasks, she did indeed build the skills that made her a prime candidate for the permanent position of receptionist.

Carol moved to Homer last year from Anchorage, seeking a smaller community. In the big city, Carol was a Montessori pre-school teacher and a church administrator at the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. She is now on the Homer UU board.

Behind Carol’s gentle and unassuming demeanor is an intriguing past: she made her home in Italy for 25 years, marrying and raising a family there during her 30s and 40s. The story of how she ended up in Italy is similar to how many of us ended up in Homer: she ran out of money in Rome while traveling. With the help of friends at the American Academy of Rome’s artist in residency program, Carol became involved in the local arts community and made a living as a model, child-care giver, and secretary.

One of her grown sons, with whom she communicates in fluent Italian, is living with her here in Homer. Carol played Cora in last summer’s Pier I production of Mornings at Seven, and teaches beginning Italian classes.