So when Dunedin City Council strategy and development general manager Dr Sue Bidrose said Ms Caldwell's resignation was "a great loss to this city's arts sector", she was not slipping into hyperbole.
After just three years in the role, the former Te Papa senior art curator yesterday announced her resignation, following a successful application for the directorship of City Gallery Wellington.
"Wellington is very lucky to be gaining someone with the talents Elizabeth has in this field," Dr Bidrose said.
"Our loss is most definitely their gain and we wish her all the very best."
And considering it took 15 months to find Ms Caldwell, Dr Bidrose said "of course" she was concerned about the possibility of finding someone of her calibre soon to take over the Dunedin role.
Ms Caldwell said yesterday the move was "a little earlier than I would have planned".
"I've had a great time here."
But directors' roles did not come up often, and when they did, they had to be considered.
She had mixed feelings about leaving, and wished the move could have been delayed by at least a year. That was not possible, though, and she will leave Dunedin in July.
Ms Caldwell said the City Gallery had a "singular position" in New Zealand as the only public art gallery focusing on contemporary art without maintaining a collection of its own.
It represented a direct contrast to the Dunedin gallery, which was the oldest in the country and renowned for its collection.
"To be the director at City Gallery Wellington is a unique opportunity and it is a prestigious role, so even though it means an earlier departure from Dunedin than I might have anticipated, I have decided to take up the challenge.
"I've greatly enjoyed working with the very fine people at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery over the past few years, and we're seeing terrific results from a number of initiatives we've put in place."
The council was achieving a lot on behalf of both the gallery and the city, and it had been rewarding to have been part of that, she said.
The results she was pleased with included the record figures, which translated to 170% of the city's population visiting the gallery, a broadening of the audience, and the awards the gallery had won, including a New Zealand Museums Awards 2011 for Beloved: Works from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
The gallery was also short-listed for awards this year.
A project to put the collection online was one she hoped would be finished before she left.
Looking to the future, Ms Caldwell said the gallery was "doing a fantastic job with the resources it has".
There was a proposal in the annual plan for the acquisitions funding budget to be cut, something she hoped would not go ahead. The fund was already small compared with other New Zealand cities.
Wellington Museum Trust chief executive Pat Stuart said Ms Caldwell had the skills and commitment to ensure the City Gallery continued to flourish.
