A Crab-u-lous Makeover

How one local artist’s creativity breathed new life into downtown crabs

By Nia Cruz

For the Washington Daily News 2025

Driving through Washington, visitors and locals would be hard pressed to find places that don’t

display the city’s unofficial motif, crabs. Crab decorations are everywhere in Washington from

home decor to apparel and even downtown Washington isn’t without a dotting of artistic and

photo-ready crabs.

The crabs along Stewart’s Parkway in Washington first scuttled their way to the waterfront in

2006 with help from the Pine Needles Garden Club who started Crabs on the Move.

Crabs on the Move was a fundraiser hosted by the club to raise money for local charities in

Beaufort County. Crab sculptures were auctioned off to businesses and organizations at a

black-tie event called the “Crab Ball” held at the Washington Civic Center. Twenty crab

sculptures were painted by local artists and were displayed at various locations in town and

could be moved on occasions. This is why the initiative was called Crabs on the Move, the

Washington Tourism Development Authority shared. In later years, the crabs were purchased

by businesses, organizations and individuals and were repainted. They were placed in

permanent spots throughout Washington and Beaufort County.

Nearly 20 years later, the downtown jimmies and sallies lost their luster to severe weather

damage. Cracks began forming in the crab shells and rain water poured into them causing

years worth of mold growth on the inside.

Within the last two years, Washington artist Yvonne Curtis has dedicated countless hours and

an immense amount of energy into restoring six crabs by the waterfront.

Curtis noticed a damaged crab while working on a separate art project with the local Boys and

Girls Club. Curtis began a long restoration process that started with draining water out of the

crab and cleaning it with bleach to remove mold buildup. She then painted the crab bright red

and enlisted the artistic abilities of the Boys and Girls Club members using their handprints to

form a heart. Curtis said “it may or may not involve some glitter” adding a bit of whimsy and

child-like play to this crab sculpture.

With the other crabs, she inspected them for residual damage to their structure. Crabs have

been damaged by weather, and from people touching them or vandalizing them.

After an inspection, Curtis repairs any structural damage before sanding the crabs down and

covering them in multiple coats of paint primer which can take up to four days.

One of the more challenging crabs to restore was one next to McDonald’s on Carolina Avenue.

The light-blue crab featured an American flag. Curtis said it took two days of sanding, four

bleach baths, and two coats of primer before the American flag could be re-painted on the crab.

It was also one of few crabs where she was not given creative freedom. The owner “wanted a

flag because [his] beloved uncle painted that on the original, and he wanted to respect and

honor that.”

Similarly, Curtis wanted to honor the work done by a previous artist who painted the crab in front

of the North Carolina Estuarium on Water Street. Linda Boyer painted the crab’s original design

- an outline of Beaufort County depicting where the county is divided by the Pamlico River and

Pungo River and where the Pamlico River meets the Pamlico Sound. It also featured the

phrase, “Keep it Clean, Keep it Crabby” in shades of blue, green and red.

With a little TLC and a new paint job, Curtis breathed new life into Boyer’s design. In her

version, the crab has magenta claws with blue and yellow legs. The outline of Beaufort County

and the phrase still remain.

Curtis, however, had creative reign over a crab at the waterfront. In transforming it, she added

metal flowers protruding from its legs to match the rest of the design which burst with flowers. It

took Curtis and her friend Leslie Montoya two days to repaint it. “ Leslie painted the world's most

perfect marigolds,” Curtis said.

Framed by blooming yellow, blue, red and white flowers, is the phrase “Beauty is Everywhere.”

It is meant to remind admirers to look at the beauty around them.

Out of the crabs she’s transformed, Curtis says she doesn’t have a favorite and picking one

would be like a parent trying - and failing- to pick their favorite child.

“I don’t have a favorite. I have certain things I love about each one of them. They’re your

children, and you don’t say anything bad about the other ones,” she said.