Underwater Museum of Art Expands

Earlier this week, nine new sculptures were 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, Fla. 
  
The 2022 installation includes the following pieces of sculpture: Currents and Tafoni by Joe Adams (Ventura, CA) Pirate Shipwreck by Sean Coffey (Pittsburgh, PA), Bloom Baby Bloom by Brit Deslonde (Santa Rosa Beach, FL), The Seed and The Sea by Davide Galbiati (Valreas, France), Fibonacci Conchousness by Anthony Heinz May (Eugene, OR), New Homes by Janetta Napp (Honolulu, HI), Arc of Nexus by Tina Piracci (Richmond, CA), We All Live Here by Marisol Rendón (San Diego, CA), and Common Chord by Vince Tatum (Santa Rosa Beach, FL). 
 
With support from Visit South Walton, Walter Marine/The Reefmaker, and the Florida Department of State Division of Arts and Culture, 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 seventeen 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 34 sculptures. The UMA patch will continue to be filled with several new sculptures annually.  
 
Individual sculptures are sponsored by Beachy Blooms, Buddy’s Seafood Market, the 2021-22 CAA Staff, the Ellis Family, Hilton Sandestin Golf Beach Resort & Spa, the St. Joe Community Foundation, SWARA, and Walter Marine / Reefmaker.
 
Now through September 5 (Labor Day) enjoy FREE day-use admission to Grayton Beach State Park (home of the UMA) courtesy of The Walton County Tourist Development Council. Read more about this program here. 
 
Visitors who wish to experience the UMA site at-depth should be certified divers who are comfortable swimming in open water.  Dive30A in Grayton Beach is able to shuttle divers directly from Grayton Beach to the UMA site.

For more information, visit the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County.