"What began with cold-calling sculptors across the US has grown into a premier fine art destination with hundreds of talented applicants and a juried exhibition." That is how Molly Johnson, gallery director for Curate 30a, described the Rosemary Beach Sculpture Exhibition to VIE Magazine this fall. The fifth edition opens Saturday, October 17, 2026. It puts 11 new works on the town center greens, pocket parks and gardens, and it runs into October 2027.
None of those 11 sculptures is guaranteed a place in town after the show. All of the new pieces go on sale when the exhibition closes. The town's permanent collection was not commissioned as a set. Pieces were kept one show at a time, through a few different routes.
Seven pieces that outlasted their exhibitions
The 2026–27 catalogue lists eleven new works alongside seven permanent-collection sculptures. All of them are on one numbered route. The exhibition's own history accounts for all seven:
- Colors of My Mind by George Rodrigue, on the East Long Green. Wendy Wolfe Magnus, the artist's widow, donated it, and it was placed around the time of the first exhibition.
- Votive by Gregory Johnson, in Wiggle Park. It won Best in Show in 2017, and the POA bought it.
- Empress by Nathan Pierce, at the entrance to Coquina Pool. It won Best in Show in the 2019–20 show, and the POA bought it too.
- Holds Water: Kneeling Rock for Standing Rock by Kimmerjae Macarus, in Spanish Town Park. It won Best in Show in 2021–22.
- Extinction Blues by Charles Pilkey, at the Splash Park on Bridgetown Avenue. It took second place in 2021–22.
- Bradbury by Kirsten Kainz, in the Butterfly Garden at Kingston Road.
- Nucleus by Gregory Johnson, at the entrance to the POA Town Office on Water Street. It won the People's Choice Award in 2024–25.
The four earlier shows put about fifty sculptures in front of the town: 11 in 2017, 16 in 2019–20, 14 in 2021–22 and nine in 2024–25. Six of those pieces are still here. Rodrigue's Blue Dog makes the seventh, and it arrived as a gift. In every other cycle, most of the work went back to the artists or on to new owners once the show ended.
Three ways a sculpture has stayed
The history page shows the method changing from one cycle to the next. That matters this year, because the routes that kept earlier pieces are the same ones open to the 2026–27 lineup.
The POA bought the jury's top pick. After the first show, the Rosemary Beach Property Owners Association approved buying the Best in Show winner, Votive. It did the same after the second show with Empress. In those early years, a juried award was the clearest path to staying.
Donors and individuals stepped in. The 2021–22 show added three pieces, the biggest single addition to the collection. Strong donor support paid for both Holds Water and Extinction Blues. In the same cycle, Steve Stevens bought Bradbury. The exhibition says it is funded by private donations and in-kind sponsors. Its donate page lists the sponsorship levels.
The public picked one. In 2024–25, Earl Dismuke's Dingbat won first place and Raine Bedsole's An Oar for Odysseus took second. The piece that joined the permanent collection was Gregory Johnson's Nucleus, the People's Choice favorite. That cycle was the first time the history page records a public vote deciding which work stayed in town.
The organizers have not said whether the 2026–27 People's Choice winner will be bought. They have confirmed two things. The vote is open again, covering all of the new sculptures, and every new piece will be for sale at the close. The permanent works are not for sale.
Who is in the 2026–27 lineup
The jury chose this year's 11 works from 54 artists across the country. VIE quoted a count of twelve in its October issue. The organizer's exhibition page says 11. The public catalogue confirms these works by name:
| Work | Artist | On the record |
|---|---|---|
| The Spirit of Hope | Kat Warwick, Dallas | White Darby marble, $14,500, number 1 on the map |
| Crab 1939 | Justin Gaffrey, Santa Rosa Beach | Corten steel, 160 by 94 by 92 inches, $42,500 |
| Mother and Child | Kimmerjae Macarus, Lafayette, Colorado | Listed near her permanent piece, Holds Water |
| Big Dreamer | Earl Dismuke | His Dingbat won first place in 2024–25 |
| Bridge Beyond Time | Corrina Sephora | New work |
| Core Deep Red | Adam Walls | New work |
| Drop | John Bannon | New work |
| Natural Wonders | Michele Moushey Dale | New work |
| Mobalisk | Kyle Ocean | New work |
Several names have history here. Dismuke comes back after winning first place last cycle. Macarus already has a piece in Spanish Town Park. Gregory Johnson shows the same pattern from the other direction. He has two pieces in the permanent collection, from two different cycles.
Gaffrey's crab has the shortest trip to town. He works in Santa Rosa Beach, and his artist statement says the crab shape came from his surroundings along Hogtown Bayou. He welded it from quarter-inch Corten steel plate, building on Alexander Calder's 1939 stabile Spiny, so that light and air pass through a form taller than most front porches. At $42,500, it carries the highest listed price among the confirmed works. The catalogue lists Adam Walls's powder-coated steel Core Deep Red at $6,000 and Kyle Ocean's Corten steel Mobalisk at $8,000. Prices for every new work appear in the catalogue and on the exhibition website.
Seeing all eighteen without a guide, or with one
The catalogue numbers every sculpture, new and permanent, and matches each number to a map of the town. Printed copies are available at several merchants around town. For the audio version, download the free Otocast app and search "Rosemary Beach, FL." The artists narrate their own pieces, and the app works anywhere you have cell service.
Committee member Johnny Mutina leads docent tours at set times through the year, and his schedule is posted on Calendly. To book a large group, email [email protected]. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
The committee is made up entirely of volunteers. Project Director Alisa Ghazvini leads it, with Burt Beusch, Michelle Brooks, Ceil Chapman, Gary Handler, Molly Johnson, Mary Lostak, Johnny Mutina, Stacy Parks, Trevor Price and Sherrye Röell. The Rosemary Beach POA and its staff support the group. The show is also a partner in Art Month South Walton with the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County.
The next three weeks on the calendar
VIE reported that installation was planned for the second week of October. The dates as published:
- Sunday, October 11, 5 to 7 p.m. Wendy Rodrigue Magnus is guest of honor at a reception at Curate 30a, with a selection of original George Rodrigue paintings on display, according to VIE.
- Thursday, October 15. The Patrons Celebration Party, by invitation only, for artists, donors, volunteers and patrons. VIE reports that Wendy Rodrigue Magnus, who grew up in nearby Shalimar, will give the keynote.
- Friday, October 16. The public opening reception at Curate30A. A 2025 POA town-center directory lists Curate at 72 Main Street.
- Saturday, October 17. The exhibition officially opens.
- Saturday, October 24. Participating merchants hand out Halloween treats from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a kids' bash runs from 2 to 5 p.m. on the East Long Green. That is the same green where Colors of My Mind has stood since the first exhibition.
The People's Choice ballot is on the 2026–27 Artists & Sculptures page at rosemarybeachsculpture.com. On a computer, hover over a sculpture's photo and click the heart icon. On a phone, tap the photo first to bring up the heart. In 2024–25, those clicks picked the sculpture now standing at the Town Office entrance on Water Street.
The details that give a place its character, from a sculpture on Spanish Town Park to the walk past the Butterfly Garden, often matter as much as the floor plan when someone is choosing where to spend time on 30A. If you'd like to talk through what makes each corner of Rosemary Beach feel the way it does, the team at Beach Escapes Coastal Living is happy to walk the greens with you. Schedule a Consultation whenever it suits you.
