Nancy Holt was invited in 1988 to create a work for the campus of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth through the Massachusetts Art in Public Places Program. The university's roots lie in the New Bedford Textile School, where Holt's grandfather Samuel Holt had taught. This personal connection informed Holt's engagement with the commission, though it was unknown to the commissioners at the time of her invitation.

In 1979 Nancy Holt was invited to develop a sculpture for the campus of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, for an exhibition titled Sitework on show between May and August 1980, curated by Judy Fox. Wild Spot is almost hidden in the landscape in what Holt described as a “natural cove.” It comprises a pair of nested steel-fencing rings. The outer one can be entered, while the inner circle, which cannot be entered, holds native wild flowers.