The Horseshoe Crab: Against All Odds
Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North Street, Plymouth, MA
Exhibition Dates: June 12, 2024 – July 7, 2024
Entry Deadline: April 15
450 million years old and in peril!
Horseshoe crabs existed long before the dinosaurs. They have survived 5 mass extinctions. Now they are in peril due to overfishing, climate change, habitat degradation and because their unique blue blood is in high demand worldwide because it contains an ingredient essential to biomedical companies.
Calling all horseshoe crab artist advocates !
Help raise awareness about the decline of horseshoe crabs and promote statewide action to restore horseshoe crab habitat, reduce fisheries quotas and increase spawning horseshoe crab populations by submitting your original artwork to this exciting and innovative juried exhibition.
Download the Call for Artists!
Invitation for Artist Participation
Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance (SEMPBA) invites artists to participate in "The Horseshoe Crab: Against All Odds" exhibition. Horseshoe crabs have existed for more than 400 million years, surviving five mass extinctions, yet today they are threatened world-wide due to overfishing and loss of spawning habitat. Their blue blood contains an ingredient essential for biomedical testing, resulting in an ever increasing demand with little research into how bleeding is affecting their populations.
Through 2D and 3D art, interpretive panels and guest speakers, this exhibition will highlight the lifecycle and ecological importance of horseshoe crabs in the web of life and explore how human exploitation is threatening these sentient creatures once so abundant.
The exhibition will feature works in a variety of media including fine art, photography, printmaking, glass, ceramics, textile, sculpture, jewelry, etc. Artists are encouraged to submit works that explore the beauty of these ancient creatures, their ecological importance, and the threats they face.
The exhibition will feature approximately 30 works and include a section highlighting works by children.