The sculpture sits in a reflecting pool designed by Philip Johnson and it is dedicated to the late Martin Luther King, Jr. The sculpture originally stood in Washington, D.C. and was offered in 1969 by the de Menils to the city of Houston as a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. to stand in front of City Hall. Houston turned down the gift and the de Menils then donated the sculpture and the Rothko paintings to start the Rothko Chapel.[8]