• Courtesy Of Athena Tasiopoulos/SPA
• Foreground: "After the Humans: Worm Party" by Jennifer McCandless; background: "Lake Scarab" and "Triplobite" by Alex Costantino

For the 12th time in her two decades as executive director of Studio Place Arts in Barre, Sue Higby found herself mucking out the basement last week. The city was subject to serious flooding from the monsoon-strength rains that devastated much of central Vermont. Cleanup — of basements, streets and many granite sculptures on Main Street — is going to take a while. SPA's main-floor gallery was unharmed, however, though it had to close for a couple of weeks. Higby said in an email that SPA is expected to reopen to visitors on Wednesday, July 26.

Though its title might seem to refer to certain political factions, "You're Absolutely Spineless" is in fact a group show featuring invertebrates — coincidentally, creatures that mostly thrive in wet or damp conditions. You'll likely recall from biology class that "invertebrate" means lacking a backbone. But who remembers that more than 90 percent of animal species on Earth will never suffer a spinal injury? That's a lot to celebrate.

Nearly 30 artists chose to depict crabs, octopi, slugs, worms, beetles, butterflies or other creepy-crawlies. Some subjects are identified only with their Latin names. The mediums are just as diverse: paintings, drawings on paper, photographs on metal, steel and wood sculptures, clay, collage, and more.

Higby and her crew curate shows for maximum visual impact, and that usually means placing a very large work on the back wall facing the entrance. In this case, Gabriel Tempesta's "Monarch" does the honors. With charcoal and watercolor, the Wolcott artist drew the outsize butterfly across five panels, which are stacked like tiles and collectively accommodate its wingspan. Somehow the lovely spotted monarch — an endangered pollinator — is even more arresting in black and white.

• Courtesy Of Athena Tasiopoulos/SPA
• "Zone of Influence" by Adelaide Murphy Tyrol

If visitors look to the right upon entering the gallery, their eyes will fall instead upon Adelaide Murphy Tyrol's lush painting titled "Zone of Influence." In its center, an octopus the color of smoke swirls with balletic grace in a blue and gold sea. A longtime botanical and natural history illustrator, Plainfield-based Tyrol creates magical tableaux, and her renderings of flora and fauna often touch upon allegory. As she writes on her website, "A random moment, fully recognized, can embrace the spirit and lead us to a deeper understanding of life."

A comical counterpart perches on an adjacent pedestal. "Bot Fly," by Todd Logan of Essex Junction, is crafted in papier-mâché — the source appears to be pages of old phone books — and is roughly the size of, oh, say, an overweight cat. This guy sports pointy tufts all over his body, multiple appendages and ingeniously crafted paper wings. The hollow bot also has two round holes for eyes and a mouth-shaped hole that is a bit unsettling. It's as if Casper the friendly ghost disguised himself as a fly for Halloween.

• Courtesy Of Athena Tasiopoulos/SPA
• "Bot Fly" by Todd Logan

A lot of people have just one word for worms: ew. But Jennifer McCandless' amusing clay sculpture "After the Humans: Worm Party" might change their minds. That is, if they focus on the festivities. Here, tubular characters poke out of holes in an orange, square box that's adorned with candy-colored baubles. More worms, also gaily hued, party hearty on top of the cube. The Burlington artist, known for her phantasmagoric creations, indulged her artistic license and gave the worms faces with googly eyes. At least they can see themselves having fun.

Slugs are generally dismissed as icky, too — but not by Montpelier textile artist Leslie Roth. Roguishly titled "Hold the Salt," her little green slug is made of knitted and fabric parts and isn't at all slimy. Besides, she notes in her artist statement, slugs have their place in the ecosystem: They eat decaying matter, plant debris and — oh, dear — earthworms.

• Courtesy Of Athena Tasiopoulos/SPA
• "Acer saccharum Medusozoa" by Bruce Hasse

It's not surprising that many artists in "Spineless" drew inspiration from creatures of the sea, which are wondrously weird and frequently considered edible. But the artworks here do not suggest dinner. The specimen contributed by Charlotte sculptor Bruce Hasse is more akin to a display in a natural history museum.

Hasse cleverly titled his piece "Acer saccharum Medusozoa." Those familiar with the Latin names of trees will translate the first two words as "sugar maple." And that is presumably what Hasse used to construct his elegant wood-and-glass vitrine. The third word? Think jellyfish. This facsimile of a Medusozoa seems to float inside its glass house, like a little umbrella streaming a multitude of tentacles. Hasse coyly lists his material as "locally harvested & salvaged vegetation."

• Courtesy Of Athena Tasiopoulos/SPA
• "Hermt Carb" by Mark Dixon

A crab can live up to 100 years if no one eats it. Though it doesn't have a spine, it soldiers on with a hard shell. Awkwardly, it is saddled with eight legs, which maybe explains why it navigates sideways. It might be these features that won over several artists in the SPA exhibit. Chelsea photographer Mark Dixon and Georgia painter Alex Costantino offer brilliant variations in "Hermit Crab" and "Hard-Shelled Crab," respectively, while Samuel Glueck of Hanover. N.H., submitted an adorable little "Red Crab" made of clay.

Space does not suffice to describe the entire menagerie that variously floats, flies, swims, slithers and crawls through "You're Absolutely Spineless." This visitor left the exhibition with a couple of thoughts: One, that walking is really pedestrian; and two, that after the humans are gone, the invertebrates will surely party.