SEVEN ARTISTS REVEALED FOR 2020 UNDERWATER MUSEUM OF ART INSTALLATION
The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) and South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA) are proud to reveal the seven sculpture designs selected by jury for permanent exhibition in the third installation of the Underwater Museum of Art (UMA).
The 2020 installation will include the following pieces of sculpture: Bee Grayt by Katie Witherspoon (Santa Rosa Beach, FL), Building Blocks by Zachary Long (Oklahoma City, OK), Dawn Dancers by Shohini Ghosh (Highlands Ranch, CO), Eco-Bug by Priscila D'Brito (Boca Raton, FL), 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).
Named in 2018 by TIME Magazine as one of 100 “World’s Greatest Places,” the UMA is presented as part of 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.
With support from the Alys Foundation, Visit South Walton, Visit Florida, and the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, 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 57 feet of water. The 2020 installation will join the seventeen 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 2020 UMA installation is slated for Summer 2020.
Read the full press release on the UMA website.
Visitors who wish to experience the site at-depth should be certified divers who are comfortable swimming in open water. The coordinates for the center sculpture (SWARA Skull) are Latitude N 30 18.754 Longitude W 86 09 33.722. 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.
We'd love to see any images you capture while diving! Tag your photos with #UMAFL or @UMAFlorida on Facebook and Instagram.
UNDERWATER MUSEUM OF ART
The Underwater Museum of Art is a permanent sculpture park located in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Grayton Beach State Park, in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. The museum’s exhibits lie within a mile of the shore at a depth of ~57 feet.
Meet the pride of the Panhandle: the first underwater sculpture garden.
The next time you get an itch for art, slip on your flippers, grab an oxygen tank, and head to Grayton Beach in South Walton to experience the Underwater Museum of Art, the first underwater sculpture garden in the U.S. The permanent exhibit and marine life habitat is home to jury-selected works of large-scale, sunken art. Over time fish and other sea critters turn these sculptures into living reefs making them ideal spots for divers seeking a unique twist on open water diving. Sculptures on display range from a giant, SpongeBob approved pineapple to an over six-feet-tall diamond ring. While the little known attraction marries culture, marine habitats, and diver intrigue, it’s also exclusive to South Walton, making it a must-see stop between long stints of tanning under the rays of Floridian sun...
FODORS January 4, 2020
The Incredible Beauty of Gulf of Mexico's Underwater Art Museum