Marilee Shapiro Asher
Marilee Shapiro Asher is a sculptor, author and survivor of both the Spanish Flu and COVID-19.Life and career
Asher was born to a wealthy Chicago family, being a daughter of Bonnie Harris. She contracted the Spanish Flu when she was six. She started studying sculpture in 1936 and had her first solo exhibition at American University in 1947.[ She has exhibited at Smart Museum, Vassar College, Franz Bader Gallery, Washington Studio School, Studio Gallery, the Cosmos Club and Warehouse Gallery. In the early 2000s, when looking for a less physical form of art, she studied digital art at the Corcoran School of Art and started doing digital photography. In 2010, her photography was displayed at the Iona Guest Show when she was a visiting artist.]
Her work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian and the Baltimore Museum of Art. In 2019 she was on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour discussing how she maintains her productive life at the age of 106. She wrote an autobiography entitled Dancing in the Wonder of 102 Years.
In April, 2020 Asher went into the hospital with COVID-19. She spent five days in the hospital before recovering and returning to the Chevy Chase House where she lives.
