The sculpture park is administered by the Des Moines Art Center and contains works by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Jaume Plensa, Ai Weiwei, and Barry Flanagan.

[6] Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, two New York based architects, designed the landscape with grassy mounds and parabolic-shaped cutaways.

In the early 2000s, the west end of downtown Des Moines was in a dilapidated state, with auto repair shops, seedy businesses, and worn out and vacant buildings.

The city decided to remediate the situation and created Western Gateway park from 10th to 15th street, demolishing derelict buildings and moving a historic apartment complex to another site.

[8][2] At its inauguration in 2009, the sculpture park was an optimistic counterpoint to the Great Recession, and to the destruction across Iowa caused by floods and tornadoes the previous year.

Subsequently, the sculpture was acquired by Mary and John Pappajohn in Miami, while the city of Antibes Juan-les-Pins ordered a similar work by Plensa to be installed there permanently.