Bachrach Joins MASSCreative Staff as New Development Manager 

Elena Ruocco Bachrach, Ph.D. has joined MASSCreative as our new Development Manager, where she will oversee fundraising efforts to support MASSCreative’s growth and long-term sustainability.

Before joining MASSCreative, Bachrach was Executive Director of the Newburyport Art Association for eight years, growing the organization to 650 members and a hub of the North Shore creative community.  Under Bachrach’s leadership, outreach to the Greater Newburyport community expanded to include numerous collaborations with cultural and business partners. Other major projects implemented by Bachrach include the 2016 launch of the Range Lights Community Sculpture Garden, a 2880-square-foot outdoor exhibition in downtown Newburyport, fundraising for a new education space, and significant expansion of 2019 programming.

Prior to that she was a business partner to Jewett Farms Studio, helping the custom cabinet-making firm design, create, and manage its new studio arm and showroom location. Bachrach’s experience also includes two years as program director at the Center for Museum Education at South Carolina’s Greenville County Museum of Art and researching and writing grants for the Office of Institutional Advancement at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit.

As MASSCreative’s Development Manager, Bachrach will oversee development efforts to support MASSCreative’s arts advocacy and public education and awareness activities, as well as its long-term sustainability and growth.

“Elena is a dynamic, collaborative leader and skilled fundraiser who is passionate about the arts and its capacity strengthen our communities economically and socially,” said MASSCreative Executive Director Matt Wilson. “She’s just the person we need to help MASSCreative and our coalition partners continue our work building a Commonwealth that is more vibrant, healthy, and equitable through investments in the creative sector.”

“Exposure to the arts and creativity improves our lives and our communities,” Bachrach said. “I’m thrilled to join an organization dedicated to educating the public and policy makers about the value of the arts, so that more of the Commonwealth’s residents can enjoy access to the benefits the arts contribute to our communities.”

Bachrach began her career in higher education, holding several domestic and international teaching positions, as well as administrative and managerial positions, including Dean of Admissions & the First Year at Bennington College.

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