The Cultural Arts Alliance (CAA) of Walton County was recently approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $20,000! This grant will support the 2025 installation of sculptures to expand the nation’s first Underwater Museum of Art (UMA). The NEA awarded 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million as part of the recent announcement of fiscal year 2025 grants.
“The CAA’s very first NEA grant was received in 2018, making it possible for us to collaborate with the South Walton Artificial Reef Association to create the nation’s first Underwater Museum of Art. So, it is incredibly rewarding to be recognized again by the NEA now that the UMA is approaching its seventh anniversary,” said CAA President & CEO Jennifer Steele.
In addition to this exciting news, J & The Causeways will return to headline Dine + Dive, CAA’s upcoming fundraising event benefiting the Underwater Museum of Art, Wednesday, April 30, 6-9 p.m. at Grand Boulevard’s Town Center. Dine + Dive serves as the official kick-off for Art Month Walton County, a month-long celebration of the arts featuring a diverse lineup of cultural events throughout May.
This year, the CAA and South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA) are elevating the former Under the Sea event into an immersive celebration of fine art, exquisite cuisine, exceptional wines and marine conservation. This multi-sensory experience will feature an extensive selection of incredible wines to sample, more than a dozen tasting stations showcasing exclusive dishes from the area’s most renowned restaurants and celebrated chefs, and a cash bar serving signature cocktails and craft beer.
In addition to continuous live music, Dine + Dive party-goers will have an opportunity to meet UMA artists from current and previous installations as well as receive an exclusive preview of several of the original works created for the 2025 installation before the sculptures are deployed to the UMA site over the summer.
Tickets fare $100 per person in advance and $125 per person day of the event, if available. Purchase at CulturalArtsAlliance.com/upcoming-events.
Funds raised will directly support the 7th deployment of sculptures into the UMA. A collaborative initiative with SWARA, the UMA is the nation’s first permanent underwater sculpture museum. Recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 100 World’s Greatest Places (2018), National Geographic’s Best Trips (2019), and a 2023 CODA Award winner, the UMA continues to gain international acclaim for its unique fusion of art, marine conservation, and eco-tourism.
The UMA is a signature initiative of the Cultural Arts Alliance’s Art in Public Spaces program, developed in partnership with SWARA. Designed to serve both ecological and artistic purposes, the UMA enhances marine habitats and supports the growth of fish populations while also enriching South Walton’s cultural landscape.
The 2025 UMA installation will include the following pieces of sculpture: Concretion by William Braithwaite (United Kingdom), Seahorse by Jessica Bradsher (Greenville, NC), The Neptunian Oak by Nathan Hoffman (Highlandville, MO), Happy Hour by Sarah Wilkinson (United Kingdom), and Hometown by Mandy Yourk (Panama City, FL), and The Menina of the Reef: An Infinite Message by Antonio Azzato (Spain).
Select sculptures, including The Menina of the Reef: An Infinite Message, which is a special collaboration between the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation and CAA, will be on display at Dine + Dive and during the 37th annual ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival in Grand Boulevard’s Town Center May 3 and 4 and will then be transferred to Orange Beach, Ala., to be prepared for their deployment into the Gulf this summer. The UMA site is located less than one mile off the coast of Grayton Beach State Park in a one-acre permit patch of seabed.
For more information, visit UMAFL.org.
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