--- description: Find out why Underwater Museum of Art in South Walton, Florida is on TIME’s 2018 list of the World’s 100 Greatest Places. title: Underwater Museum of Art Is One of the World’s Greatest Places 2018 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77c08d8e226fdd79/6989384086f68ecc556e9f38/underwater-museum-of-florida-art-worlds-greatest-places-2018-15.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 22, 2018 # Underwater Museum of Art South Walton, Florida by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Courtesy of Underwater Museum of Art Half a nautical mile from the coast of Florida’s panhandle and 60 ft. below the lapping waves, an 8-ft.-tall stainless-steel pineapple reaches its spiky leaves back toward the sky. It’s one of the seven sculptures placed in [America’s first underwater museum](https://www.culturalartsalliance.com/local-arts/underwater-museum-of-art/ "undefined"), which opened this summer. But the pieces are meant to do more than look pretty, says Jennifer Steele, the executive director of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA). “The purpose is for them to become part of the environment, enhancing it and stimulating the ecosystem,” she explains, noting that new designs will be added each year. Although visitors who want an up-close experience need be trained scuba divers—or fish themselves—it is possible to sneak a peek from the surface. CAA just asks that boats not anchor nearby; they wouldn’t want you disturbing the art. _—Kaitlin Menza_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2018/5366688/underwater-museum-of-art-south-walton-florida/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2018/5366688/underwater-museum-of-art-south-walton-florida/"},"headline":"Underwater Museum of Art","datePublished":"2018-08-22T21:07:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:26:29.686Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2018/5366688/underwater-museum-of-art-south-walton-florida/","keywords":["World's Greatest Places 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77c08d8e226fdd79/6989384086f68ecc556e9f38/underwater-museum-of-florida-art-worlds-greatest-places-2018-15.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77c08d8e226fdd79/6989384086f68ecc556e9f38/underwater-museum-of-florida-art-worlds-greatest-places-2018-15.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2018/5366688/underwater-museum-of-art-south-walton-florida/","name":"Underwater Museum of Art"}}]}] ```