The scarf at the center of “The Scarf Project: Nurturing the Tie Between Art & Healing” features a painting by NECC art professor Bonnie Ashmore, whose work explores the molecular structure of chemotherapeutic agents found in nature.

Northern Essex Community College art professor Bonnie Ashmore, of Amesbury, will have her work featured in an upcoming community initiative called “The Scarf Project: Nurturing the Tie Between Art & Healing” at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. Timed to coincide with the museum’s “World of WearableArt” exhibition, the gift shop will be selling a beautiful silk scarf emblazoned with a reproduction of one of Ashmore’s paintings starting Feb. 15.

Through a partnership between the museum and the Mass General Cancer Center, each $60 scarf sold will be matched with one donated to a patient undergoing treatment at MGCC. That’s particularly relevant to the Northern Essex professor, a breast cancer survivor whose battle with the disease has become central to her artistic vision — her paintings largely explore the molecular structure of chemotherapeutic agents found in nature.

“I wanted to find a human connection, because being a patient can feel so de-humanizing,” she says. “I started researching the origins of the drugs — like when and where were they discovered. The first drug I researched, Taxol, is the one that is the basis for the scarf. I learned that like most pharmaceuticals, the origin of this drug is in nature.”

In addition to their sale at the Peabody Essex Museum Shop, the scarves will be available at the Images Boutique at the Mass General Cancer Center in Boston and at the Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center in Danvers.

“World of WearableArt” is an annual New Zealand-based design competition that challenges sculptors, costume designers, textile artists and makers of all stripes to explore the boundary between fashion and art, and to “get art off the walls and onto the body.” The Peabody Essex Museum’s exhibit features 32 ensembles of the competition’s most unique, spectacular and outlandish wearable artworks.

For more information on “The Scarf Project” or “World of WearableArt,” call (866) 745-1876 or visit the Peabody Essex Museum website.

NECC offers an associate degree in general studies: art which allows students flexibility to explore and experience the breadth of the arts. Whether students are looking to transfer and earn their bachelor’s degree, or immediately pursue a career in art, this degree will provide them with the foundation needed to be successful in such varied fields as photography, visual arts, graphic design and/or multimedia.