Anderson Center 25th Anniversary Party

Register Here

The Anderson Center at Tower View will celebrate its 25th Anniversary as a creative nexus and one of the top artistic destinations in the upper Mississippi River region (National Geographic Traveler Magazine) from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 24. This family-friendly event will feature artist demonstrations and activities, live music and literary readings, food vendors, exhibits, and tours. Admission is $5 for the general public and free for Anderson Center members and youth under 18. The Anderson Center is located on the western edge of Red Wing at 163 Tower View Drive.

Organized as a festive open house, live music is being provided throughout the day by Minnesota favorites Jillian Rae, Chastity Brown, Brent & Sheena, and the students of Universal Music Center on an outdoor stage. Former Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen and current Anderson Center artists-in-residence are offering literary readings in the Tower View Barn. Around the Anderson Center campus, open studios and artist demonstrations will take place, including a demo in the printmaking studio by Minnesota printmaker Richard Stephens. The Rude Boi Food Truck is serving up pulled pork sandwiches and ribs, The Granary of Stockholm is preparing custom veggie salads, and Island City Brewing Co of Winona is pouring a selection of their distinctive craft beers.

There will also be an artist reception for Long Story Short a group retrospective art exhibition showcasing 25 years of art and ideas by past and current Anderson Center residents and studio artists, including Louise Erdrich, Betsy Bowen, Irene Chen, Corinne Duchesne, Michael Bigger, C.B. Sherlock, Tom Virgin, & Antonius Bui. Visitors can take in the newest addition to the 11-acre Sculpture Garden, Perci Chester’s dynamic two-piece sculpture, Film Noir Ensemble, and Tower View’s iconic namesake water tower will be open and available to tour.

Sue Gens, Executive Director of the Minnesota State Arts Board, will share remarks at 2:00 p.m. prior to the cutting of a birthday cake. “I have long believed the Anderson Center is one of the unique treasures of this state,” commented Gens.

Taking the stage on the lower lawn at 12:30 p.m., Jillian Rae is a multi-talented singer-songwriter and vocalist that has cultivated a reputation as the go-to violin accompanist for dozens of roots, rock, and Americana bands (including The Okee Dokee Brothers, Corpse Reviver, Adam Levy, and Steve Kaul & the Brass Kings). An Iron Range native based out of Minneapolis, Rae assembled her own band in 2013 that performs a palatable mix of roots, Americana and pop. Expanding on her upbringing as a classical violinist, Rae has become one of the most powerful and unique voices in the Twin Cities music scene.

Based in Minnesota, but with roots in Tennessee, Chastity Brown, performing at 2:15 p.m., grew up surrounded by country and soul music. In the full gospel church of her childhood, she played saxophone and drums and found her singing voice and a passion for music. Her first show was in Knoxville, TN, and then it was on to Minneapolis. Since then, she’s been featured on NPR’s “Favorite Sessions,” CMT, American Songwriter, the London Times, Paste Magazine and others. Chastity has toured the U.S. and abroad, appearing on the U.K.’s Later…with Jools Holland.

Reading poetry in the Tower View Barn at 1:20 p.m., Joyce Sutphen grew up on a farm in Minnesota. She earned a PhD in Renaissance drama from the University of Minnesota, and has taught British literature and creative writing at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Her first collection of poems, Straight Out of View (1995), won the Barnard Women’s Poets Prize. Subsequent collections include Naming the Stars (2004), winner of the Minnesota Book Award and Carrying Water to the Field: New and Selected Poems (2019). She has received a McKnight Artist Fellowship and a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship and served as Minnesota’s Poet Laureate from 2011-2021.

Minneapolis printmaker and instructor Richard Stephens, offering an open artist demonstration 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Granary Printmaking Studio, holds a BA from the University of Minnesota, teaches printmaking at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Stephens explores regional landmarks in his work, often collecting his images by making plein-aire drawings on site. He combines linocut, letterpress and hand-tinting techniques to produce his prints, which tend to retain an immediate, sketch-like quality.

Other open studios and artist demonstrations taking place at the event include: painters B-J Norman, Art Kenyon Lynn Brown and Lindsay Cherek Waller; glassblower Gail Dahlberg; sculptors Max Cora and Gita Ghei; ceramicists Angela Foley, Jeff McDowell & Julie DeVetter; painter & sculptor Cynthia Weitzel; Sum Some Studio; Universal Music Center; the Minnesota Weavers Guild; and a Gelli Plate Printing workshop by ArtReach of Red Wing.

“We are so very pleased and proud of what the Anderson Center has become in the last 25 years,” share co-founders Robert and Carolyn Hedin, “and now, under the stewardship of Executive and Artistic Director Stephanie Rogers, a new chapter is unfolding. We are confident that the Center will continue to embrace its original vision as a vibrant place for creativity and invention, the very reasons why Tower View was built in the first place.”

The Anderson Center, built between 1915-1921, occupies the former Tower View estate of Dr. Alexander Pierce (A.P.) Anderson, his wife, Lydia, and their four children. Dr. Anderson gained worldwide renown for developing the American breakfast cereals “Quaker Puffed Wheat” and “Quaker Puffed Rice.” His estimable life also included achievements as a farmer, educator, scientist, essayist, botanist, and naturalist.

Since 1995, the Anderson Center at Tower View has been the steward of this remarkable historic site, using its resources to support the creative process in an inspiring setting. A grand landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, the Anderson Center brings visitors to Red Wing, provides world-class programming for the local community, and supports artists from around the world.

The Anderson Center is conveniently located just off Highway 61 at 163 Tower View Drive on the northwestern edge of Red Wing. The Center has two entrances from 61 – the Cannon Bottom Road entrance leads to the West parking lot and the beautiful extensive Sculpture Garden. This will be the main entrance and gate for the 25th Anniversary Party. The Mounds View Drive Entrance leads to Anderson Center’s offices and main entrance, which features additional accessible parking for the 25th Anniversary Party.

This event is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Special thanks as well to the Anderson Center Board of Directors for all their support.

Sponsored by:
Red Wing Shoe Company, Central Research Laboratories, Xcel Energy, 3M Fall Protection, Associated Bank, Speight Anderson & Lappegaard P.A., Red Wing Buick, and Sievers Creative