Trip ideas while visiting Des Moines in Iowa
The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a 4.4-acre urban park nestled within Western Gateway Park in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Widely regarded as one of the most significant collections of outdoor sculptures in the United States, the park offers visitors a world-class art experience completely free of charge. Open from sunrise to midnight every day, the park provides an accessible and continuously evolving cultural landmark that has become a defining feature of Des Moines’ revitalized downtown core. The park opened in 2009 with an initial collection of 24 sculptures, a gift to the city valued at approximately $40 million, and four additional works have been acquired since, bringing the total to 28 sculptures featuring works by some of the most celebrated contemporary artists in the world.
The Pappajohn Sculpture Park owes its existence to the generosity and vision of John Pappajohn and his wife Mary Louise Pappajohn, a distinguished Des Moines couple recognized among the top 200 art collectors in the world by ARTnews magazine from 1998 to 2014. The couple donated their private collection of sculptures to the city, originally keeping the works in their own yard where passing drivers would slow down to admire them. Before being relocated to Western Gateway Park, the Pappajohns’ art was a well-known local curiosity, and the decision to move the collection downtown was part of a broader strategy to catalyze urban renewal in the west end of downtown Des Moines, which in the early 2000s was struggling with neglected buildings and vacant lots. The landscape design was crafted by Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, two New York-based architects who shaped the park with grassy mounds and parabolic cutaways that create intimate, walled spaces for displaying sculptures in curated groupings. When the park opened in 2009, it arrived as an optimistic symbol during a difficult period — the Great Recession had begun, and Iowa had recently endured devastating floods and tornadoes.
The park’s 28 sculptures represent a remarkable cross-section of contemporary art from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Nomade by Jaume Plensa stands 27 feet tall and features a latticework of steel letters forming a human figure — this iconic piece has become the park’s unofficial symbol and a favorite among photographers and visitors. Spider by Louise Bourgeois anchors one section of the park with its towering bronze arachnid, a motif the renowned French-American artist used to symbolize protection and maternal bonds. Untitled (Three Dancing Figures, version C) by Keith Haring was restored in 2017 using a Bank of America Art Conservation Project grant after years of outdoor exposure had worn down its colorful paint coating. Pumpkin Large by Yayoi Kusama, installed in 2018, brings the Japanese artist’s signature pumpkin form to Iowa — the bronze sculpture rises about 8 feet on a pedestal with a surface of recessed dots running from base to stem. A version of Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture was placed in the park in 2019, adding the pop art master’s most famous motif to the collection. Other notable artists represented in the park include Ai Weiwei, Barry Flanagan (creator of the beloved Thinker on a Rock), Mark di Suvero, Richard Serra, Martin Puryear, Ellsworth Kelly, and Yoshitomo Nara.
Beyond its role as an outdoor art gallery, the Pappajohn Sculpture Park functions as an active urban green space in the heart of downtown, encouraging slow and contemplative movement through its grounds. The park sits along the Western Gateway Park corridor, which connects to additional green spaces and pedestrian pathways stretching through downtown Des Moines, and visitors often combine a walk through the sculpture park with a visit to the adjacent Des Moines Art Center just steps away. Gray’s Lake Park, located a short distance to the south, offers a 1.5-mile paved trail around a scenic lake with views of the downtown skyline, making it easy to combine water-side recreation with art appreciation in a single outing. The park’s open layout and 24-hour accessibility make it a popular spot for early morning joggers, midday office workers on break, and evening visitors enjoying sculptures illuminated after dark.
The Pappajohn Sculpture Park is open 24 hours a day, from sunrise to midnight for general park access, and there is no admission fee, making it one of the most accessible world-class art experiences in the Midwest. Spring brings warming temperatures and comfortable walking weather, making it a great time to pair a visit with the Iowa Cubs baseball season at nearby Principal Park. Summer’s long daylight hours allow for extended visits, though weekend afternoons can draw crowds — the open lawn provides plenty of space. Fall’s cooler temperatures and changing leaf colors create a beautiful backdrop for photography with far fewer visitors than summer. Winter transforms the park into a dramatic landscape where snow-covered sculptures take on a striking new character, and nearby indoor options at the Des Moines Art Center provide warm alternatives. The park is particularly magical during golden hour in the evening, when low sun casts long shadows across the sculptures, revealing details that are easy to miss under harsh midday light. For those seeking a deeper cultural experience, the Des Moines Symphony has twice commissioned orchestral works inspired by the sculpture collection — Symphony in Sculpture (2012) and subsequent installments — further cementing the park’s role as a unique intersection of visual art and musical performance.