Eight new sculptures were recently added to the nation’s first permanent Underwater Museum of Art (UMA) in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Grayton Beach State Park in South Walton.
Named by TIME Magazine as one of 100 “World’s Greatest Places,” the UMA is the first presentation of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA)’s Art In Public Spaces Program and is produced in collaboration with the South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA). The purpose of the UMA is to create art that becomes marine habitat, expanding fishery populations and providing enhanced creative, cultural, economic and educational opportunities for the benefit, education and enjoyment of residents, students and visitors in South Walton.
This installation includes the following sculpture: Bee Grayt by Katie Witherspoon (Santa Rosa Beach, FL), Building Blocks by Zachery Long (Oklahoma City, OK), Dawn Dancersby Shohini Ghosh (Highlands Ranch, CO), Eco-Bug by Priscila D’Brito (Boca Raton, FL), El Plastico by George Sabra (Georgetown, TX), From The Depths by Kirk Seese (Lutherville, MD), Hope by Jonathan Burger (New Bern, NC) and Three Wishes by Marisol Rendón and Ingram Ober (San Diego, CA).
With support from Visit South Walton, The Alys Foundation, Visit Florida, the National Endowment for the Arts, Walter Marine/The Reefmaker, and the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs, the sculptures were 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 58 feet of water. This installation joins the 17 sculptures previously deployed on a one-acre permit patch of seabed off Grayton Beach State Park, expanding the nation’s first permanent underwater museum to a total of 25 sculptures. The UMA patch will continue to be filled with several new sculptures annually.
Individual sculptures are sponsored by 30A Company, Beachy Blooms, Bud & Alley’s Restaurant, Hilton Sandestin Golf Beach Resort & Spa, the St. Joe Community Foundation, Visit South Walton, Noreen & Kevin Dooney, and Kasja Larsson & JoAnn Ribaudo. A special thanks goes out to the fishing captains who transported artists, sponsors and guests to the deployment site to witness the installation, including Van R. Butler, III with Family Tradition Charters, Captain Cole Taylor of Grayton Coast Rentals, Scott Provow of Grayton Beach Charters, Mark Thompson of Fishy Booty Charters and Mike Valentino of Trigger Happy Fishing Charters.
Admission to the UMA is free, however, the site is only accessible in person as a dive location. Divers who wish to visit the site can take a dive boat .93 miles off the coast of Grayton Beach State Park. The coordinates for the center sculpture (SWARA Skull) are N 30*18.754 W 30*09.562. Out of respect for the art, boaters are asked to find the center location and then move away from the park to anchor in order to avoid damage to the artwork.
Visit UMAFL.org for more information about dive shops, tours and obtaining your certification while visiting South Walton. Photos and videos of the sculptures will continue to be updated online periodically to document the marine growth on each sculpture.
Artists interested in submitting artwork for consideration to the 2022 UMA installation can visit UMAFL.org to complete a pre-application in anticipation of an Artist Call announcement in Spring 2021.
