Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County and South Walton Artificial Reef Association Collaborate To Expand North America’s First Underwater Museum of Art with Sixth Sculpture Deployment

Seven new sculptures were recently added to North America’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.

Named by TIME Magazine as one of 100 “World’s Greatest Places,” and a 2023 CODAworx Award winner for “Collaboration of the Year”,  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.

The 2024 installation includes the following pieces of sculpture: Reef Goddess By Raine Bedsole (Santa Rosa Beach, FL), Deep Sea Three by Matthew Gemmell and David Showalter (Baltimore, MD), Sea How We Flow by Elise Gilbert (Santa Rosa Beach, FL), Poseidon’s Throne by Nathan Hoffman (Highlandville, MO), Bubby Barnacles by Donna Conklin King (East Orange, NJ), Sunken Spores by Ashley Rivers (Gulfport, FL), and Ring My Bell by Bradley Touchstone (Santa Rosa Beach, FL).   

On August 8, more than 75 onlookers, including several of the artists and project partners, were on site to view the historic deployment. This year, the team was able to expand the livestream to include a host to narrate the event with information about the sculptures and insightful details about the process. The event is available to view on the UMA website at umafl.org.

With support from Visit South Walton, Walton County and Walter Marine/The Reefmaker, the sculptures were deployed with SWARA’s existing USACE 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 40 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 47 sculptures. The UMA patch will continue to be filled with several new sculptures annually. 

“The CAA is very proud of the continued collaboration with our co-founders and project partners SWARA, Allison Wickey and Walton County, and grateful to the artists, fabricators, deployment team and sponsors for working with us to grow the UMA each year,” said CAA President & CEO Jennifer Steele. “We were especially excited about the addition of the 2025 installation’s livestream footage, which ensures that every person can experience the magic of the UMA. We look forward to bringing more technological advancements, underwater video and photos to our website to show the real-time evolution of the artwork as artificial reef.”

“The 2024 Deployment marks a huge milestone in UMA’s growth,”  says SWARA President and Dive30A owner Walt Hartley. “With some of the largest and most intricate sculptures yet, we have successfully connected the bulk of the museum to the Super Reef Anchor Point on the eastern boundary of the permit site. Visiting divers can now navigate the entire Museum by sight, easily swimming from one sculpture to the next without having to rely on a compass (assuming at least decent visibility). This will also help to keep anchors outside of the Museum’s boundaries and away from the art. We will continue to rely on the discretion and respect of those visiting UMA to help protect and preserve this unique marine habitat. It takes extraordinary vision and determination to make something out of nothing. But this team, this partnership, and the incredible network of support (local and global) continue to raise the bar each year. And the proof in the pudding is the marine life that isn’t just ‘passing through’ anymore — they’ve made UMA their home.” 

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 Super Reef UMA entrance are N 30°18.754 / W 86°09.521. Out of respect for the art, boaters are asked to anchor *[ONLY on the ‘EAST’ side of the Super Reef Anchor Point]* to protect the sculptures from unintended contact or damage. *[Per FL State Law, always heed dive flags and other vessels!]*

Visit UMAFL.org for more information about dive tours. Photos and videos of the sculptures will continue to be updated online periodically to document the marine growth on each sculpture.

Photo credit to Spring Run Media.