Underwater Museum of Art
The Underwater Museum of Art
The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) in partnership with the South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA) and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Alys Foundation, and Visit Florida joined two of South Walton, Florida’s most beloved attractions – the arts and the Gulf of Mexico – with the introduction of The Underwater Museum of Art (UMA), North America’s first underwater permanent sculpture exhibit.
Recently recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the top 100 “World’s Greatest Places“, The UMA is the first presentation of the CAA’s Art In Public Spaces Program and augments SWARA’s mission of creating marine habitat and expanding fishery populations while providing enhanced creative, cultural, economic and educational opportunities for the benefit, education and enjoyment of residents, students and visitors in South Walton.
Currently, Gulf coastal waters off Walton County are 95% barren sand flats. Deployment of sculpture as artificial reefs will provide a source of biological replenishment and protective marine habitat where none exists. The UMA is deployed with SWARA’s existing USACOA and FDEP permitted artificial reef project that includes nine nearshore reefs located within one nautical mile of the shore in 60-feet of water. A one-acre permit patch of seabed off Grayton Beach State Park has been dedicated to the CAA for the purpose of a permanent underwater sculpture exhibit.
The CAA and SWARA proudly revealed the seven sculpture designs selected by jury for permanent exhibition in the first installation of the UMA in December 2017. Those sculptures were deployed into the Gulf the following June, thus opening the nation’s first underwater sculpture park. In March 2019, additional designs were reveled for permanent exhibition as the 2019 installation. A third installation took place in February 2021 which brought the total number of exhibits to 25 sculptures followed by a fourth installation of nine new artworks in June 2022 bringing the exhibit total to 34 sculptures.
Video credit: Spring Run Media