By Anne Levin

The Arts Council of Princeton has named Caroline Cleaves, a Princeton native, as its new director of development. The position is effective January 2.

The organization’s search to fill the post of executive director, vacant since Taneshia Nash Laird stepped down in August 2018, is continuing. Jim Levine is serving as the interim executive director.

“Caroline joined us in March 2019 as a development consultant, and has quickly brought discipline and insights to our efforts,” Levine said in a press release. “Both the board and the staff have been impressed with Caroline’s perspectives, work ethic, wit, and her knowledge of the development field. Everyone’s excited to have her join the team.”

A graduate of Princeton High School, Cleaves lives in Princeton with her husband, Princeton University History Professor Sean Wilentz, and her two children. The couple married this past September.

Cleaves attended Arts Council classes as a child. “In the late 1970s, when they were holding classes on Ettl Farm — which was a real farm then — I remember taking a watercolor class with my Dad,” she said on Monday. “We sat at a trestle table in a barn. I was about 13, and it was a really nice opportunity to spend time together while getting to paint. I’ll always remember it.”

Cleaves said she hopes to help the Arts Council better tell its story about who it serves. “Historically, there has always been this conversation about who we serve. There is plenty of need right here in Princeton. I think the things that makes us proudest are all of our outreach and community programs,” she said, citing the organization’s programs with Princeton Nursery School as well as services for fixed income seniors and a recently added initiative with Eden Autism.

“Raising money for an organization is so tied to communicating who it is you serve,” she said. “I think people sometimes misunderstand the Arts Council as being similar to the Princeton Public Library as [getting funding from] the municipal government. In fact, we are completely separate and receive no money from the town or the University. We’re supported through fees from classes and charitable contributions. A lot of arts councils are regranting agencies, which we are not. So our name can be misleading.”

Cleaves graduated from Smith College and the University of Chicago, where she received a Fulbright scholarship for her PhD research in cultural anthropology. Previous to her work for the Arts Council, she was a development consultant, holding fundraising positions at the Grounds For Sculpture and Rider University.

“It’s really nice to be back home again,” she said, “where I can ride my bike to work.”