The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) and South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA) are proud to reveal the five sculpture designs chosen by jury for permanent exhibition in the seventh installation of the Underwater Museum of Art (UMA).
The 2025 installation will include the following sculptures: Seahorse by Jessica Bradsher (Greenville, NC), Concretion by William Braithwaite (United Kingdom), The Neptunian Oakby Nathan Hoffman (Highlandville, MO), Happy Hour by Sarah Wilkinson (United Kingdom), and Hometown by Mandy Yourk (Panama City, FL).
Named in 2018 by TIME Magazine as one of 100 “World’s Greatest Places,” and recipient of the 2023 CODA Award for Collaboration of the Year, the UMA is the cornerstone 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.
UMA sculptures are deployed with SWARA’s existing USACOA and FDEP permitted artificial reef projects that includes nine nearshore reefs located within one nautical mile of the shore in approximately 58 feet of water. The 2025 installation will join the 47 sculptures previously deployed on a one-acre permit patch of seabed off Grayton Beach State Park, further expanding the nation’s first permanent underwater museum.
Deployment of the 2025 UMA sculptures is slated for Summer.
Project and sculpture sponsorships are available. Please contact Gabby Callaway at gabby@culturalartsalliance.com for details.
The Underwater Museum of Art is the first permanent underwater sculpture garden in the U.S. Located in the Gulf of Mexico, off of Walton County, Florida. The museum lies at a depth of 58-feet and at a distance of .93-miles from the shore of Grayton Beach State Park. Each year, a juried selection of sculptural works, drawn from artists throughout the world, is installed in the underwater garden.
he sculptures quickly attract a wide variety of marine life and, over time, metamorphize into a living reef. This eco-tourism attraction not only entices art lovers and divers from around the country and around the globe, it provides a much-needed habitat for local marine life and fisheries as well as providing marine scientists, wildlife management professionals, ecologists, and students, with an opportunity to study marine life and measure the impact of artificial reef systems on the Gulf ecosystem.
2025 UMA Sculpture Artists
SEAHORSE artist Jessica Bradsher is based in Greenville, NC. As an outdoor sculpture artist, she often creates with the themes of horses and hair. Seahorse will be her 9th full size welded horse and the piece will incorporate a fun twist on its mane and tail as they appear to flow with the ocean waters.
CONCRETION is a concrete and steel sculpture by artist William Braithwaite. Concretion will add an interesting architectural intervention in the Gulf, asking a question about the relationship of art, architecture and the natural world.
Readers may recognize Missouri-based artist Nathan Hoffman from his 2024 UMA sculpture
Poseidon’s Throne. For the 2025 installation, Hoffman will create THE NEPTUNIAN OAK, a conduit for life and movement although being a representation of a dead and lifeless tree at its first landing on the ocean floor.
HAPPY HOUR by UK based artist Sarah Wilkinson is based on a margarita cocktail glass and provides the visiting divers with time to enjoy an oversized cocktail while diving the underwater museum site.
HOMETOWN by Panama City artist Mandy Yourick uses simple shapes to explore the multiple meanings of home. The inspiration for this sculpture is the site itself. The Gulf waters, specifically off the shore of Grayton Beach, which are home to Yourick. This is where she first learned to swim in open water and where she spent many years making memories with friends on the shore. As the sixth generation of her family to be born and raised in the Florida Panhandle, she has deep connections to the area and is committed to the longevity of its biodiversity. Yourick hopes this playful sculpture becomes a hometown for generations of marine life to come.
