Ashara Shapiro's creative journey has found its home in Bucks County. A recent project with Newtown's Johnson Kendall and Johnson where she curated art for their whole office space including a custom graffiti wall is just one impressive example of her work. Armed with a Magna Cum Laude diploma from Emerson and a BFA in Acting and Theater Education, she excels in creative writing, and design and is a published poet. Her entrepreneurial spirit seems endless and includes a passion to create space for others to explore their greatness. This has come to life in the ArtWRKD collective.

ArtWRKD is a long time dream come true. Shapiro has created a full-service art consortium with a mission for discovering, fostering, and sharing all mediums of original work by today's best emerging artists, it focuses on an experiential relationship with artist, art, and patronage. ArtWRKD offers a space to the community for workshops, art education, artist interaction, and a curated artist boutique and will host regular events, curator groups, workshops and lectures, all while actively promoting artists. Currently, they have a Wearable Art and Fiber exhibition that opened with a Wearable Art Fashion Show at The Newtown Theatre. This will be an annual event. In June, the exhibition will be an ArtWRKD twist on the theme of Ekphrastic expression.

In addition to ArtWRKD, Shapiro has created a wearable art brand A.Recherche. This began organically during a time when she was thinking of closing her business Reclaimed Designs. Here she and her partner created furniture and lighting from repurposed industrial equipment. She soon found the business model was not sustainable but the creation of wearable art and appreciation of things of the past was reiterated and nurtured during that time. A storyteller at her core, here she found a new way to tell the stories of past industry and invention, societal struggle and personal empowerment. These themes are each prevalent in her wearable art brand ARecherche. She breathes new life into forgotten creations, the small bits that get tossed aside, and gives them meaning in a new way.

For Shapiro, empowerment has always been a central theme, and as she designs, especially her custom work, the focus remains on creating from strength to give strength to others. Stay tuned for a future line of accessories to accompany her custom clothing this year.