On Sunday, October 14, 2001 the Rockland Center for the Arts opens a history-making indoor/outdoor exhibition featuring the Sculptors Guild. "Sculpture Takes Over: A Group Exhibition from the Sculptors Guild" will display the work of some of the most prestigious sculptors of our time including Hans Van de Bovenkamp ,Chaim Gross, Ann Jon, Ron Mehlman, Juan Nickford, and more than 35 other Guild members. Each of these artists earned their membership through an invitation based on their creative abilities and professional standing. The Guild consists of over 100 sculptors worldwide whose work is as diverse as their backgrounds. The indoor exhibit continues through December 16, 2001, and the outdoor display will be on view until March 1, 2001.

The Sculptors Guild was founded in 1937 "to provide free exhibitions of contemporary sculpture", and has since been a pioneering spirit in exhibiting sculpture worldwide. Stephen Keltner, explains the guild's "mission is to promote and encourage contemporary sculptors…stressing sculptures importance as an integral part of the cultural experience." The Guild initiated the trend towards outdoor sculpture exhibitions, as well as being the first to ever use a corporate lobby for a fine arts exhibition. They have exhibited at places including the garden of the Guggenheim Museum, the New York Botanical Gardens, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Donna J. Hassler, a curator in the Department of American Paintings and Sculpture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, explained: "Today we take for granted the presence of sculpture all around us, in plazas, on sidewalks, and in corporate spaces, humanizing and enhancing the quality of life in the city. The technique and procedures of sculpture are more generally known as artists share the creative process through lectures, demonstrations and the use of public media. "These changes in the status of sculpture in our time owe much to the pioneering spirit of the Sculptors Guild."

Rockland Center for the Arts is proud to present this event in conjunction with the inauguration of its plans to expand its ten-acre site into a total art environment. The outdoor exhibit will be installed on the Center's bucolic grounds, which border Buttermilk Falls State Park. Future plans to transform the property include creating an art and nature trail that would join with trails in the State park and would incorporate rotating and permanent installations of sculpture, complementing and extending the Center's current Sculpture Park, opened in 1999.