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Cuyahoga Arts & Culture Names Jill Paulsen Interim Executive Director

Jill Paulsen

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture - the local arts funding agency - today appointed Jill Paulsen as interim CEO & executive director, as it begins a search to replace Karen Gahl-Mills who will step down from that post, next month.

CAC distributes revenue, raised through a county cigarette tax, to local arts and cultural organizations, including ideastream.

Paulsen has served as CAC's deputy director since 2011 and will step into her new role after Gahl-Mills departs on June 7th.  The appointment was made during a special board of trustees meeting this afternoon.  The board also selected trustee Mark Avsec to serve as point person in the process to find a permanent replacement for Gahl-Mills.

As they begin those deliberations, Cleveland Play House Managing Director Kevin Moore urged the board to weigh the impact of the new executive director on the community and “not just focus on a person”.  In a news release following the meeting, CAC said it would provide “details about the search and opportunities for public input … as they become available.”

The next regular CAC meeting is scheduled for June 12 at, 4:00 p.m. at the Idea Center in downtown Cleveland.

David C. Barnett was a senior arts & culture reporter for Ideastream Public Media. He retired in October 2022.