In 1994, ten artists from the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea created the artworks in this garden on location over six months of chopping and chiseling, socializing and sight-seeing, leaving both the works themselves and lasting memories and friendships with the local community. The artists came from six villages in the Kwoma and Iatmul societies, and for most it was their first opportunity to work outside Papua New Guinea. Ranging in age from twenty-seven to seventy-four, they typically worked in trans-generational teams that combined the extensive mythic and artistic knowledge of older men with the physical strength of younger men, and all were recognized as the most accomplished master carvers in the Sepik River region. Along with the carving, they collaborated with American and Papua New Guinean landscape architects to develop the garden's site plan, aiming to reinterpret Papua New Guinean artistic and design perspectives within the context of a western public art environment. The project grew from an idea proposed in 1989 by the artists Naui Saunambui and Yati Latai to Jim Mason during his anthropological fieldwork on the Sepik River; seeking to return something to the people who had generously supported his research, Mason organized and raised funds under the sponsorship of Stanford's Anthropology Department, then four years later returned to Papua New Guinea to assemble the group, escort them to the United States, and oversee the project to completion. The creation of the garden became a distinctive meeting between communities, giving locals the chance to form friendships with the artists and learn about the concerns and life experiences that motivated their work, while giving the artists an unforgettable journey into what they called the misty jungles of Americana and a direct encounter with American rituals and ways, ending in a shared sense of brotherhood and friendship.