The Anderson Center at Tower View will welcome 31 artists from 10 U.S. States and 4 foreign countries for residencies in 2023. A shortened residency season will run from July to the middle of November, due to capital improvement projects taking place in the spring. Sixty-eight percent of incoming artists self-identify as artists of color. Residencies were granted from a pool of 555 applications from 26 different countries, 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Founded in 1995 on the Tower View estate in rural Red Wing, Minn., the Anderson Center has renovated and restored historic buildings to support working artists and the creative process. The organization’s flagship Artist Residency Program provides groups of artists, writers, musicians, and performers with an ideal space to create innovative works of art that advance their practice and have a significant impact on society. “The exchange of ideas across disciplines and the distinctive setting of Tower View,” explains Program Director Adam Wiltgen, “are a source of inspiration and new directions for the work artists create here while in-residence.”

This group of Anderson Center Artists-in-Residence includes writers Joanna Rakoff, Zeina Hashem Beck, Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhran, and Mimi Lok; visual artists Daniel Liévano, Kyung Hee (Kate) Im, and Elgin Cleckley; interdisciplinary performance artist Cherrie Yu; and composers Aby Wolf, Jillian Rae, and James Everest.

Following a highly competitive review process, panels for the organization’s general Anderson Center and Early Career Artist programs -- each comprised of distinguished jurors representing a variety of artistic disciplines and backgrounds -- selected artists and writers for Anderson Center residencies based on their talent and vision, as reflected by their work samples and project descriptions.

Artists-in-Residence at the Anderson Center make use of uninterrupted time and the opportunity to exchange ideas while living and working together in the Tower View Residence, the historic Georgian Revival family home of A.P. and Lydia Anderson. Residencies are two or four weeks long and include private studio space, groceries, and chef-prepared dinners. The artists participating in August’s Early Career Artist Residency supported by the Jerome Foundation — Donte Collins, Sarah Evenson, Ash Goh Hau, AriDy Nox, and Zosha Warpeha — will also receive travel stipends, honoraria, and additional resources.

The Anderson Center at Tower View’s Quzhou – Red Wing Exchange will finally resume in 2023, while its longstanding Salzburg – Minnesota Exchange returns for the second year following suspension due to the pandemic. A new fellowship for 2023, in partnership with (Neo) Muralismos de Mexico, has painter Anton Vazquez of Chiapas, Mexico visiting in October. The organization’s Public Artist Residency continues for a third year thanks to a FY23 Creative Support Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Also continuing are established academic fellowships with graduate writing programs at the University of Minnesota and Pacific Lutheran University.

This program 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.

Header image: July 2022 Anderson Center Artists-in-Residence (L to R): Michael Masaru Flora, Agustín Castilla-Ávila, Davu Seru, Ucheoma Onwutuebe, and Jordan Young. Photo by Stephanie Lynn Rogers.