A deep dive into the United States' first underwater museum — a collection of sculptures 58 feet beneath the surface of the Gulf, off the coast of Walton County, Florida.
In the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Walton County, Florida, lies a collection of sculptures 58 feet beneath the surface, known as the Underwater Museum of Art (UMA). A partnership between the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) and the South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA), with support from Visit South Walton, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Alys Foundation and Visit Florida, UMA is the United States' first underwater museum.
In addition to offering artistic and cultural value, the sculptures — made of concrete, steel, iron, and other materials that will last for years — are designed to foster the development of marine habitats and expand fishery populations.
"The submissions this year were fantastic," Andy McAlexander, vice president of SWARA, told Beach Happy. "The artists really took into consideration not only the sculpture that they had in mind but its ability to serve a dual purpose as an artificial reef."
During the CAA's annual Under The Sea fundraiser, people have the opportunity to see the sculptures on land before they're deployed into the Gulf of Mexico and chat with the artists that created them. After that, you'll need to be a scuba diver or freediver to see the sculptures in person.
Pie in the sky
The young museum, which made TIME magazine's World's Greatest Places list in 2018, was just a proposal of an idea in 2017 by Allison Wickey, board president of the CAA, who was a new board member at the time. Wickey came up with the idea after learning about an underwater sculptor who was deploying pieces in other countries and having witnessed the deployment of artificial reefs locally.
I was mesmerized by the idea of observing art underwater.
"At the time SWARA was deploying limestone towers and pyramids in permitted areas along the Emerald Coast and I asked if it was possible to deploy sculptures," said Wickey, who set up a meeting with McAlexander to discuss the possibilities of such a project.
A week later, Wickey presented the concept for UMA and a partnership with SWARA at a CAA board meeting. Wickey recounted that she was nervous and felt her idea was "totally pie in the sky" and, after sharing her proposal with CAA executive director Jennifer Steele and the board, was immediately met with excitement.
"Every single step of the project involved something new to figure out that none of us had ever experienced and the CAA and SWARA leaned heavily on each other through it all," Wickey said. The first call for artist submissions was out within the year.
The Grayt Pineapple
Rachel Herring, a Florida-based multimedia artist and graphic designer, was one such artist who answered the call. Her sculpture, The Grayt Pineapple, was one of seven designs chosen for the inaugural deployment of UMA.
"When I set out to apply, I knew I wanted my piece to be fun and whimsical," Herring told Beach Happy. "I also knew I wanted it to be hollow so it could house and protect fish. When the pineapple idea came to me, I knew it was perfect since they are symbols of welcoming and friendship. And of course, an 8-foot pineapple fits into the category of fun and whimsical."
After her design was selected, Herring enlisted the help of her dad — who conveniently owns a metal fabricating shop and had a supply of stainless steel at his disposal — to turn her sketch into a full-blown sculpture. "I started making paper models to scale so we would know what cuts to make," Herring explained. "Luckily the calculations were pretty spot on, and we welded it together fairly quickly."
His hobby is building old hot rods, and he loves to say 'more people have asked me about that dang pineapple than anything else I've done.'
Herring got scuba certified soon after the sculptures were deployed in the summer of 2018. "It is so rewarding to see them doing their job growing coral and housing wildlife," she said.
A question of perspective
Wickey also conceptualized a sculpture for submission that inaugural year, and her piece was also chosen. She found inspiration in an anamorphous sculpture at a Chicago airport. "It was a huge piece mounted on the ceiling and consisted of hundreds of birds suspended by threads, floating in a murmuration," Wickey said. "As the viewer descended the escalator, the shape changed and undulated and I knew then I wanted my sculpture to be about perspective."
She ultimately decided to create a multidimensional octopus. "An octopus is a multitasker and is equipped to handle any situation it experiences, always finding a way out or around predicaments," Wickey said. "I'm a painter and my style is known for its layered and textured look, which also shows through in the sculpture. Any way you view the piece reveals a new layer and dimension."
Once her piece was selected, Wickey got to work on the technical logistics of actually creating her sculpture, Anamorphous Octopus. She was able to bring her concept to life with the help of a graphic designer and metal workers from Montgomery, Alabama. "I could not have been more impressed by the teamwork and finished project," Wickey said. "While I came up with the concept, they did the work to make it come alive through software, cutting and welding."
For Wickey, the experience of watching the welders assemble her sculpture was second only to watching the first deployment of UMA. "I remember that perfect late June day in the Gulf right off Grayton Beach, looking out at the sculptures on the deployment barge and at all of the boats and yachts holding the sculptors, our UMA team and so many supporters, and being in total amazement that it was even happening," she said.
Watching the pieces deploy and hearing the cheers is something I will treasure as one of the very best moments of my life.
A few of the exhibits you might see under the sea
Other pieces include the SWARA Skull by Vince Tatum — look closely at the eye sockets of this 8-foot skull and you'll see they resemble the shape of southern stingrays — along with El Plastico by George Sabra, a massive plastic bottle constructed of environmentally cast concrete; Three Wishes by Ingram Ober and Marisol Rendón, a giant geometric genie lamp with ports designed for divers to purge air from their regulators so it releases from the spout like a wish-granting genie; Dawn Dancers by Shohini Ghosh, a silhouette of two dancing seahorses; and Eco-Bug by Priscilla D'Brito, a magnified insect whose many limbs and segmented body offer ample surfaces to foster marine life and coral growth.
New sculptures are deployed every year.
By Abigail Abesamis · Photos by Shane Reynolds / Color Earth and Spring Run Media · To learn more about the Underwater Museum of Art, visit umafl.org · Originally published in Beach Happy Magazine, Issue 1
