Carol Craven died peacefully on Nov. 20 at her home on Music street in West Tisbury, where she had lived for the past 20 years. She was 79.

Born in 1939 Johnson City, Tenn., Carol graduated from Stephens College in Missouri before attending Yale Drama School in New Haven, Conn. She spent most of her life in New York city in a career that spanned many aspects of the arts from the stage to film to television and to art galleries.

She ultimately combined all of these experiences into the Craven Gallery which she founded and ran in Vineyard Haven and West Tisbury for nearly 15 years in the late 1990s and 2000s. She closed the gallery in 2011 but continued to consult for private clients.

Carol’s early years in New York city in the late 1960s and 1970s were spent performing in some off Broadway work as well as in television commercials. Her last stage production was Howie and Thelma in the Woods. During that time, she also managed the Alexander Milliken Gallery as well as several other prominent galleries where her passion for art grew. In the early 1980s she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Craven were executive producers of the television game show Child’s Play.

Carol and Dick moved to Martha’s Vineyard permanently in the late 1990s in order to better handle his health condition related to ALS. Concurrently, she founded the Craven Gallery which became a beacon of fine art on the Island and a regular gathering spot for many over the next 15 years.

Dick Craven died in 2001.

Carol adored her friends and acquaintances, and always enjoyed sharing stories and connecting people to one another. She also adored her family, and her laugh and joy for life will be missed by all.

She is survived by her son, Michael Boardman, daughter in law, Kate Tabner and three grandchildren all of Greenwich, Conn.

A memorial service to celebrate her life is being planned for late spring on Martha’s Vineyard.

In lieu of flowers, donations to one of Carol’s favorite Island organizations, the West Tisbury Library or the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, are suggested.