For decades horseshoe crabs have been overlooked, overharvested and underappreciated for the species’ longevity and role in the maintaining the Long Island Sound. Now, Christine Suter, executive director of Friends of the Bay, hopes a new art exhibition at Hive Market and Gallery in Oyster Bay will inspire others to see them through the same lens as environmentalists, while raising money to support the organization’s environmental education efforts.
“Horseshoe Crab and Friends,” opening Aug. 15, will feature more than 30 works by Long Island artists celebrating horseshoe crabs and other marine life found in the Long Island Sound estuary. The exhibition, hosted by Hive in partnership with Friends of the Bay, will include paintings, photography, jewelry, mixed media pieces and artwork created on naturally molted horseshoe crab shells.
Friends of the Bay is a decades-old nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor estuary.
Some of the artwork will be available for purchase, with a portion of proceeds benefiting Friends of the Bay.
The exhibition grew from an idea Suter had been considering for more than a year.
“I’ve always thought of horseshoe crabs as beautiful creatures and as being these unsung heroes of the ocean, but most people don’t,” Suter said. “And I just wanted people to see horseshoe crabs for the elegant, awe-inspiring creatures that they are, and for members, artists, and members of the community to help in sharing that story.”
The concept evolved after Friends of the Bay previously partnered with Hive on a series of popular craft workshops, including making oyster shell mobiles and decorating naturally shed horseshoe crab shells. Suter said she had been collecting the empty shells, which wash ashore after horseshoe crabs molt each year, with the idea of using them as artistic canvases.
When the nonprofit saw the Ladew Cat Sanctuary’s November-December 2026 organized a similar cat-themed exhibition at Hive, she realized the gallery would be the ideal place to expand the concept into a full-scale exhibit.
Laura Escobar, owner of Hive Market and Gallery, said the gallery has partnered with Friends of the Bay every year since the shop opened, typically through fundraising craft workshops. She immediately embraced Suter’s latest proposal.
“This was Christine’s idea, and when she approached me, before she finished her sentence, I’m like, ‘yes,’” Escobar said, “because I would never say no to her or Friends when they want to work together.”
Artists were invited through social media and Friends of the Bay’s mailing list to submit original work inspired by horseshoe crabs and other Long Island marine life. A limited number of naturally molted horseshoe crab shells were made available for artists who wanted to paint directly on them.
Escobar said she was thrilled by the community’s response.
“When you do an open call and you have a topic or a theme, you don’t know if it’s going to speak to anybody,” she said. “You don’t know if you’re going to get five submissions, 20, 30. So it’s kind of like, oh, let’s see what happens. And I think we surpassed 30.”
The exhibition will showcase a wide variety of artistic styles and mediums, from shell paintings to photography and assemblage pieces. One featured artist, known as Dune Time Arts, specializes in painting horseshoe crab shells inspired by Fire Island.
Beyond fundraising, organizers hope visitors leave with a deeper understanding of horseshoe crabs’ ecological importance.
Suter noted that horseshoe crabs are considered a keystone species because many other species depend on them. Their distinctive blue blood also has been used for decades in biomedical testing to help ensure the safety of intravenous drugs and vaccines.
“I just feel like we owe it to them to ensure their survival now,” Suter said, “in the face of being harvested and for use as bait and the loss of their spawning beaches.”
Friends of the Bay also plans to display educational information throughout the exhibit explaining horseshoe crab biology, conservation challenges and the organization’s efforts to protect local habitats.
Funds raised will support Friends of the Bay’s conservation and outreach initiatives, according to Suter.
Escobar said the event reflects what she believes art can accomplish within a community.
“What I’ve learned over the last five years being here at the Hive is that art brings people together,” she said. “It’s a sense of community and when you when you’re in a room with a creative mind with the people who make stuff it’s a very beautiful energy.”
The exhibition opens with a reception on Aug. 15 featuring refreshments and an opportunity to meet many of the participating artists. Artwork will remain on display and available for purchase at Hive Market and Gallery, located at 100-102 Audrey Ave. in Oyster Bay, through Sept. 20. Artists whose work does not sell will also have the option of donating pieces to Friends of the Bay for future fundraising auctions.
For more information on Friends of the Bay and their work, visit FriendsOfTheBay.org.
