DES MOINES - It's being described as a world-class sculpture garden, and visitors are flocking to the new venue in downtown Des Moines featuring works of art donated by philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn.

Des Moines Art Center director Jeff Fleming said the interest was intense as soon as the fences that surrounded the park during construction came down last month.

"People just converged onto the park. It was just extraordinary, and they've been there ever since," he said.

The park's artwork - 24 sculptures by 19 artists - is valued at nearly $40 million.

Fleming said other sculpture gardens are larger in size, but he emphasized that this one holds works by many of the most significant modern and contemporary artists, with examples of minimalism and abstract expressionism.

The Pappajohns, well-known Iowa philanthropists, donated their personal collection for the project. The park is a partnership between the Des Moines Art Center and the City of Des Moines, and other individuals and corporations donated to make the project a reality.

The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park is tucked into a 4.4-acre greenspace on the western edge of the state capital's downtown area between two major thoroughfares, Grand Avenue and Locust Street.

Developers built a number of landscaping features into the garden to enhance the sculptures. They include hills, some of which are cut away to serve as backdrops. A conscious effort was made to have both intimate and wide-open spaces, Fleming said, comparing the garden with Iowa's rolling hills.

"In each of these spaces, you have a room or gallery where a grouping of works can reside," he said.

A security system keeps the park under surveillance 24 hours a day. Some of the more-fragile works are protected by motion sensors. In some cases, plantings and pedestals also serve as barriers to the works.

Griffeth Troester of Hampton, Iowa, braved a blustery October day to check out the sculptures, acknowledging that he is "not a big art person."

He pointed to "Nomade," a giant sculpture depicting a person made of white letters holding his knees to his chest as one of his favorites.

"You wonder what some person was thinking when he started doing that," Troester said.

Linda Willeke, the coordinator of education at the Charles H. MacNider Museum in Mason City, calls the park a cultural resource for the whole state.

She points out that John and Mary Pappajohn consistently make lists of the world's top art collectors.

"They have a significant collection of modern and contemporary art, and what they've done as far as giving to the city of Des Moines, and I think the whole state, is just really going to put Iowa on the map, especially in terms of outdoor sculpture," she added.

John Pappajohn was born in Greece and grew up in Mason City, where his father ran a grocery store. Pappajohn worked his way through college to earn a business degree and later founded an insurance company. It was one of many businesses the venture capitalist would help grow on his way to success.

The Pappajohns also are known for their donations to the University of Iowa and the creation of entrepreneurial centers around the state, among other contributions.