UMA Celebrates Fifth Art Deployment

UMA Celebrates Fifth Art Deployment

Walton County, Fla.– July 12, 2023 – The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, South Walton Artificial Reef Association and Walton County Tourism celebrated the successful deployment of eight new sculptures in the Underwater Museum of Art. 

The new installation is the fifth UMA sculpture deployment and includes the following sculptures:

• Quantum Reef by Chris Chubb, Tallahassee, Fla.
• Space Nest by Frank Henderson, Evanston, Ill.
• Welcome Home by Zachary Long, Oklahoma City, Okla.
• Madam Nature by Andrew Luy, Boca Raton, Fla.
• Cetacean Remains by Mclain, Stone Mountain, Ga.
• One Tree by Ann Moeller, Huntsville, Ala.
• Opus by Allison Wickey, Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.

CAA Executive Director Jennifer Steele said, “We partner with the South Walton Artificial Reef Association and Walton County to deploy original sculpture into the Gulf that act as artificial reef and habitat. This project has been funded from the beginning in part by the Tourist Development Council which we are so grateful for.”

“This underwater museum is the first of its kind in the United States. The fact that it’s here in an area that hasn’t historically been a dive community and is expanding the type of tourist that comes here is really important,” said Steele.

The fifth installation will bring the total number of underwater works of art up to 40. The nation’s first permanent underwater museum of art is located within one nautical mile of the shore in about 58 feet underwater and the coordinates for the center sculpture (SWARA Skull) are Latitude N30 18 45.262 Longitude W086 09 33.722.

In addition to providing a site for SCUBA diving that will be unique to the world, the sculptures are designed and selected with their suitability as marine habitat in mind; So even in the absence of SCUBA divers, the Underwater Museum of Art is certain to have many visitors, including schools of bait fish, grouper, sea turtles and dolphins!

For photos of the deployment from 2023, click HERE.

For artist info and a full description and artist renderings of each sculpture, click HERE.

For more information, please reach out to:

Melissa Wheeler, Marketing Director of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County:
Office: (850) 622-5970
Mobile phone: (850) 319-9743
Email: Melissa@culturalartsalliance.com

For more information on the Underwater Museum of Art and sponsorship opportunities, click HERE.

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