The 48-year-old art curator starts her new job today and has already discovered the gallery is a well-oiled machine, well cared for by her predecessor.
But there may still be room for improvement, and ideas about its future would lie in the hands of its supporters, she said.
"The gallery is doing so many things so well that I'm not going to rush in and make any changes.
"I will communicate with anyone who has an interest in the gallery, and a view for the future will emerge from those conversations."
Ms Caldwell was appointed to the newly-established position after a consultant's report recommended the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the Otago Settlers Museum have separate directors.
Both institutions were formerly run by Dunedin City Museums director Priscilla Pitts.
Until last week, Ms Caldwell was the senior art curator at Te Papa, in Wellington, a position she held for three years.
Before that, she was the visual arts adviser for Creative New Zealand and curator of contemporary art at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, in Christchurch.
Despite her high-profile position at Te Papa, Ms Caldwell said the move to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery was a welcome step up the career ladder.
"Dunedin is an extremely well known and highly respected art gallery - it has a very good reputation and profile.
"It's one of the top places in the country to work.
"The role at Te Papa was particularly oriented around staff management and quite specific.
"The role here is more varied and more focused on art, which has been my background."
Her introduction to art came as a high school sixth former.
She recalled her family members were "creative, but not artistic" and she was at a loss to explain where her love of art came from.
"I was very captured by the narrative qualities of art - the stories it had to tell.
"When I went to university, I looked at art history and from there, it was a foregone conclusion.
"I was certainly on a path to gallery work."
She gained an MA (Honours) in art history from Canterbury University and has a post-graduate diploma in art curatorial studies from the University of Melbourne.
