Mote’s Buoy Paint Night at Alonzo’s

Monday, November 9, 2026, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Mote Marine Laboratory brings its Buoy Paint Night to Alonzo’s Patio Bar in Key West. Participants paint two buoys over the course of the evening. One goes home with the painter, and the other is put to work on Mote’s offshore coral trees, where it becomes part of a functioning underwater art exhibit supporting the restoration of Florida’s Coral Reef.

No painting experience is needed. Registration is $30 per person and covers both buoys, all painting supplies, and appetizers. Space is limited and advance registration is required to reserve a seat.

Mote runs coral restoration out of three public facilities in the Keys: its main campus, the Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration on Summerland Key, plus land-based nurseries in Islamorada and Key Largo. The buoys painted at this event mark coral trees in the offshore nurseries where fragments are grown out before being planted on the reef.

A second Buoy Paint Night runs Wednesday, November 11 at Florida Keys Brewing Company in Islamorada for anyone who would rather attend up the Keys.