Pittsburgh-based artist Asia Ward created Tall Grass to connect to Osage Park's unique environment. "I wanted to make something that made me feel like I was a wetland creature looking up through the water at the tall grass," she has explained. Osage Park contains twelve acres of designated wetland, an ecosystem where water covers the soil for most of the year. The park was designed to preserve this part of the Illinois River Watershed for future generations. A previous version of this sculpture is installed on the shores of another wetland area in Silver Lake, MN.

Ward made this sculpture to be both beautiful and functional: at night, the solar globes light up, attracting moths and their natural predators. The artist thinks of her work as an opportunity for the community to learn and gather around ideas of the environment, water systems, and energy production. You can find another sculpture by this artist, an artwork made from recycled plastic called Sammy the Sea Monkey, at the Scott Family Amazeum in Bentonville.