Residency Program - Anderson Center at Tower View

Residency Program

Overview

The Anderson Center provides residencies of two to four weeks’ duration from May through October each year to enable artists, writers, musicians, and performers of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment to create, advance, or complete work. There are typically 5 residents at the Anderson Center at a time, and we host approximately 35 residents each year.

This program is the largest of its kind in the Upper Midwest. Since the Center opened in 1995, nearly 800 artists from 45 states and 40 countries have participated in the program. Residents have come from countries including Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, and Uganda.

The Center also engages in artist exchange programs with the city of Salzburg, Austria, and with Red Wing's Sister City, Quzhou, China. The Salzburg Artist Exchange is in cooperation with Stadt-Salzburg Artist-in-Residence Program and is open to emerging and mid-career Minnesota artists. The Quzhou Artist Exchange is only open to artists living in or around Red Wing. The Center participates in annual scholarship programs with the MFA programs at The University of Minnesota and Pacific Lutheran University in Washington.

Anderson Center residencies begin on the 1st or 16th of each month and end on the 15th or last day of each month. There is no charge for the residency, and all food is provided. Additional funding is not available at this time. Residents must arrange for their own transportation to the center, or to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, or to the train station in Red Wing.

Accommodations

Each resident is provided with a room in the beautiful historic Tower View residence. Rooms are equipped with either queen or twin beds, a desk, a dresser, a large closet, and a comfortable chair. Rooms have either private bathrooms, or a bathroom shared with one other resident. Linens and towels are provided, and the house is cleaned and linens changed weekly.

Meals

Our residency chef makes dinner for artists-in-residence using the commercial kitchen on-site. Dinner which is served at 6pm on weeknights. All groceries are provided for residents. With a small cohort and a dedicated chef, we work hard to accommodate dietary restrictions while making sure everyone is fed healthy, delicious meals.

Workspaces

Visual artists are provided a 15' x 26' studio. Other workspaces on site include a gas and electric kilns, a printmaking studio (with a Vandercook 219 letterpress and Charles Brand-like etching press), and an open-air forge. Practice space is available for dancers and choreographers. Composers and musicians have access to two grand pianos. Writers will have desks and comfortable chairs in their rooms, as well as access to wi-fi, three libraries within the residence, a large sitting room, a large workspace on the third floor, and a variety of other spaces throughout the house in which to work—including a large screened porch, where residents often dine together in nice weather.

Accommodations

Meals

Workspaces

Visual artists are provided a 15' x 26' studio. Other workspaces on site include a gas and electric kilns, a printmaking studio (with a Vandercook 219 letterpress and Charles Hand-like etching press), and an open-air forge. Practice space is available for dancers and choreographers. Composers and musicians have access to two grand pianos. Writers will have desks and comfortable chairs in their rooms, as well as access to wi-fi, three libraries within the residence, a large sitting room, a large workspace on the third floor, and a variety of other spaces throughout the house in which to work—including a large screened porch, where residents often dine together in nice weather.

Location

The Anderson Center campus consists of 350 acres of the historic Tower View Estate, built by Dr. Alexander Pierce Anderson between 1915 and 1921, on the western edge of Red Wing, Minnesota. The estate’s original buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Center features a large sculpture garden, and is adjacent to the Cannon Valley BikeTrail, a 20-mile biking and walking trail that runs from Cannon Falls to Red Wing.

The Center is approximately 45 minutes southeast of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and 5 minutes northwest of the small but charming town of Red Wing. Transportation is provided between the Center and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP) on the first and last day of residencies only. Residents who choose to drive will have access to private parking on the property. Residents without cars can either use one of the Center bicycles to ride into town (about 5 miles) or, often, can get a ride in with another resident.

Red Wing is a small town, but it has amenities including Hanisch Bakery (voted Minnesota’s best bakery), a chocolate shop, coffee shops, restaurants, the historic Sheldon Theatre, the Red Wing Arts Association, the Red Wing Shoe Company store, Goodhue County Historical Society museum, the Red Wing Stoneware & Pottery store, the Pottery Museum of Red Wing, a Duluth Trading store, a Target, a YMCA, several pharmacies, a library (the Center has arranged for residents to have access to a library card for their month at the Center), liquor stores, a small independent bookstore, several parks, and multiple hiking trails throughout the Red Wing bluffs.

The Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) offer a wide array of attractions, including the Minneapolis Center for Book Arts, Loft Literary Center, Rain Taxi, Greywolf Press, Coffee House Press, Milkweed Editions Press, Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Arts Center, the Guthrie Theatre, the Penumbra Theatre, the Northern Clay Center, the Textile Center, the Minnesota Historical Center, as well as a variety of art supply stores.

Community Engagement

Residents are asked to make a substantive contribution to the community while they are here. Each year, center residents visit schools, senior centers, civic organizations, adult and juvenile detention centers, and other arts institutions in Red Wing and its nearby rural communities, with over 3,000 people—from primary school children to senior citizens—benefiting from these community presentations, workshops, and classes. If you are accepted, once you confirm that you will be coming, Anderson Center staff will discuss possible engagement activities with you, and help coordinate your project.

Technology

Residents should expect to have cell phone access on the property, as well as WIFI throughout the house. There is a printer provided to residents, and printing can also be done in the Anderson Center office. Residents should plan to bring any other technology they will need with them.

Application

Each year, the application opens in early September and closes on February 15 at midnight CST. Applications are accepted through the Anderson Center’s Submittable site and juried by a panel of professionals working in the field and former residents. There is one application deadline for all six months of residencies.

Community engagement

Residents are asked to make a substantive contribution to the community while they are here. Each year, center residents visit schools, senior centers, civic organizations, adult and juvenile detention centers, and other arts institutions in Red Wing and its nearby rural communities, with over 3,000 people—from primary school children to senior citizens—benefiting from these community presentations, workshops, and classes. If you are accepted, once you confirm that you will be coming, Anderson Center staff will discuss possible service projects with you, and help coordinate your project.

Technology

Application

Accreditation

The Anderson Center at Tower View is a fully accredited member of the Alliance of Artists Communities and RES ARTIS: International Association of Residential Art Centres.