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The Anderson Center at Tower View’s Deaf Artists Residency (DAR) provides 4 Deaf artists the opportunity to come together to live, work and share ideas in American Sign Language (ASL), while advancing their own personal artistic projects.

DAR is the only artist residency in the United States devoted exclusively to Deaf artists. The program was created in 2014 and has run in even-numbered years. The DAR Coordinator is fluent in ASL and lives and works on-site during the residency period, ensuring accessibility and running the program in ASL.

The goal of the Deaf Artists Residency Program at the Anderson Center is to support the work of Deaf artists and create artistic and organizational networks that advance the development of Deaf cultures as distinct cultural areas within the larger context of American Culture. 

Thanks to support from the Minneapolis Foundation, artists selected to participate in the cohort will receive a $1,400 stipend for the month, reimbursement of up to $600 in travel costs, lodging & studio space, groceries, and chef-prepared communal dinners.

TO APPLY    The application deadline for the 2026 Anderson Center Deaf Artists Residency Program is Tuesday, January 19, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. CST. Applications must be submitted on or before the deadline in order to be considered in the jury review period. There is no fee for applying to this residency program.

Jury review will take place in late January and the month of February. Selected artist residents, wait-list and runners-up will be notified by March 3, 2026 at the latest.   

 ELIGIBILITY    Deaf Artists Residency is designed for artists who use American Sign Language and/or Protactile as their native or adopted language and is open to artists 21 and older who are authorized to work in the United States. All artists and creatives in the Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Late Deafened, and Hard of Hearing community are encouraged to apply. 

To be considered, artists must submit an application through the Anderson Center’s online form via Submittable. Complete program details are below. For application questions, please contact the organization via email at info@andersoncenter.org.   

 DURATION OF RESIDENCY  The Anderson Center’s Deaf Artists Residency Program is a 4-week residency-fellowship the month of May 2026. Selected artists must commit to arriving on May 1 and departing on May 29. Two-week residencies are not an option for the Deaf Artists Residency. This is currently a biennial program taking place in even-numbered years. May is the only month the program takes place in 2026.   

 ABOUT THE ANDERSON CENTER AT TOWER VIEW 

Anderson Center nurtures a vibrant artist community based at Tower View, an expansive Historic Site and natural area in Red Wing, Minnesota. Founded in 1995, the Anderson Center has renovated and restored Tower View's historic buildings to support working artists and the creative process, including developing twenty-two active studio spaces and three galleries. A renovated barn serves as a performance and event venue, the historic main residence houses artists-in-residence, and fifteen acres support a sculpture garden.   

Anderson's signature artist residency programs, together with the Studio Artist Program, forms the core of the organization's artistic community. The Residency Program provides artists, writers, musicians, and performers of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment with dedicated time and space to create, advance, or complete new work. In addition to community engagement activities through the artist residency program, the organization's additional outreach programs create connections and integrate the arts into community life through local partnerships, hosting annual arts events, and participating in other community-based initiatives.

LOCATION 

The Anderson Center is located on the 350-acre historic Tower View campus, built by scientist & farmer Dr. Alexander Pierce Anderson between 1915 and 1921, on the western edge of Red Wing, Minnesota, and its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Center features a large sculpture garden, and is adjacent to the Cannon Valley Trail, 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. Transportation is provided between the Center and the Twin Cities airport on the first and last day of residencies only. Artist Residents that choose to drive will have access to private parking on the property.

 APPLICATION    A completed application form includes a brief artist statement, a work plan, work samples, and a resume or CV. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed by the panel. You may begin your application, leave and return as many times as necessary to complete the form PRIOR to clicking the submit button at the bottom of the completed form. Important: do not submit your application form until you are completely finished editing as your application will be finalized at that time. 

If you are a prior resident of the Anderson Center, you must wait one season/year from the time of your residency to apply again.

The Artist Statement, provides an opportunity for you to share, in 100 words or less, a brief statement or summary about your past and current work.

 The Resume, CV, or Biographical Statement is a Word or PDF document that shows education, work experience, publications, awards, and previous residency experience. 3 pages maximum.         

The Work Plan is a one page Word or PDF document that clearly and concisely describes what you are working on and what you’d like to accomplish at the Anderson Center. Successful applicants address how the timing and location of the residency, as well as the opportunity to live/work in a community of ASL signers, would benefit their practice. Artists may also mention how specific amenities or resources at the Anderson Center (such as the surrounding natural environment, specific studio spaces or equipment) would advance their work. The statement can be single-spaced.         

Work Samples should be of recent work and should include:  

• For composers and artistic directors: 3 to 5 short video excerpts (no videos longer than 5 minutes)
• For visual artists: At least 5 images of work (300 dpi or larger)
• For nonfiction and fiction writers: 10 pages of double-spaced prose
• For playwrights & screenwriters: 10-page excerpt (does not need to be from the beginning)
• For poets: 10 pages of poetry or 3 short video excerpts of performances (no videos longer than 5 minutes)
• For translators: 10 pages of translation or 3 short video excerpts of translations (no videos longer than 5 minutes) and original text
• For performance artists: 3 short video excerpts of performances (no videos longer than 5 minutes)
• For filmmakers: at least 3 short film clips (no videos longer than 5 minutes)
• For Scholars: 10 pages of work, including research abstracts and relevant diagrams

If you are an interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary artist, you may "split the difference" on the work sample guidelines above at your own discretion. For example, including 5 pages of writing and 3 images, etc. 

You may also choose to simply submit a PDF or Word Doc with hyperlinks to work samples that meet the guidelines outlined above.         

ACCOMMODATIONS    DAR is an ASL-centric residency environment. ASL interpretation is provided for arrival day and other public events/activities with the hearing community. The DAR coordinator works with Center staff in the development and execution of the program while ensuring full accessibility. The coordinator is the liaison between artists, program partners and the Center prior to and during residencies and provides on-going artistic/community support to the cohort throughout the month.  Hearing staff are provided with cultural & sensitivity awareness training so as to raise everyone’s level of comfort and effectiveness. 

Protactile training and interpretation can also be made available to support DeafBlind artists. The main floor of the residency house is fully wheelchair accessible, including one bedroom and bathroom. 

Each resident is provided room, board, and workspace for the length of the residency period in the historic Tower View mansion. Visual artists are provided a 15' x 26' studio and are responsible for supplying their own materials.  Other work spaces on site include a dark room and a print studio (with a Charles Brand-like etching press) for print makers. Practice / studio space is also available for performing artists.

Residents have access to the many walking trails on campus and to the Cannon Valley Trail, which goes through the Anderson Center’s property. Bicycles are also provided. Residents have responded to many different aspects of the gorgeous Tower View campus through their work, including visual artists harvesting plant materials to create site-specific natural inks and choreographers doing movement work in the sculpture garden.         

PROGRAM DETAILS    Each artist-in-residence receives:

    · $1,400/month artist stipend        · Travel honorarium (Reimbursement up to $600)

Evening dinners are prepared and presented by the Anderson Center chef Monday through Friday. The chef also shops for meal items for artist residents, and residents are responsible for preparing their own breakfasts and lunches, and meals over the weekends. There is also a housekeeper who cleans and maintains the historic facilities.         

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT     The program is set-up to minimize distractions and other obligations so that artists have every opportunity to fully focus on their work. However, the Anderson Center was one of the first artist residency programs in the country to require that residents give back to the local community and connect with area residents & organizations through community engagement activities. Plans for 2026 community engagement are in development.

ORGANIZATION MISSION & VALUES 

Anderson Center is a rare, rural oasis, a place that celebrates the imagination and supports the development of new arts and ideas through residencies, studios, and public engagement.

The Anderson Center Residency Program was set-up by a working poet to support other artists and continues to be led by administrative staff with hands-on experience in the creative process. Most importantly, staff trust artists to know what they need most to advance their individual practices. The Center does not dictate specific outcomes. Instead, the expectation is that the gift of time and space will generate significant advancements in residents' work. The Anderson Center trusts the artists to best use their time to benefit their own work and reach their own goals.

As an interdisciplinary arts organization, the Anderson Center embraces artists who are diverse in every way. Since its inception, the organization has intentionally worked with artists representing a wide range of disciplines, geographies, ages, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and abilities. Anderson believes that the exchange of ideas is generative. The Center strives to bring people and ideas together and operates with a spirit of welcome for all.

The Anderson Center’s goal is for connections participating artists make with one another, as well as connections made with other creatives and community members, to outlast the duration of their residency visit. The organization believes that the environment and resources of Tower View, along with an exchange of ideas across disciplines, can serve as a catalyst for new inspiration and innovative directions for the work artists create while in residence.      

SELECTION TIMELINE 

January 13, 2026 (12:00 p.m. noon CST) – application deadline        

 March 3, 2026 – Final notification to selected artists, wait-list and runners-up on or before this date.         

SELECTION CRITERIA Selection criteria include (in order of importance):       

 1) Artistic excellence as demonstrated by work samples, resume and artist statement       

 2) Potential benefit and impact on career as demonstrated by work plan       

 3) Balance of artistic disciplines, identity, geography, etc within selected cohort         

RECOMMENDED READING / VIEWING

• Five Deaf artists share a house in Red Wing in a unique Minnesota Residency - Jenna Ross, Star Tribune, July 9, 2021
• Deaf Artists Residency in Red Wing, Minnesota — The Daily Moth, news segment & interviews, July 19, 2021

 TESTIMONIALS    “I didn’t know artistic fulfillment and community like this was possible.” — Ross Showalter, 2022

“In essence, the (temporary) Deaf space with six Deaf artists, the time and space to write in a beautiful place, the respect and admiration for our work, and the expectation that we use our time to work on our projects were of most value to me.” — Rachel Mazique, 2014

 "There’s nothing like it anywhere else, and I witnessed how enriching it was for everyone, including myself. The results of this easy communication was amazing." — Cristina Hartmann, 2021

"It is quite extraordinary how [our] shared understanding and experiences about communication form a deep, natural bond...we don’t often get this kind of immersed creative and critical time together.” — Brenda Brueggemann, 2018   

 EQUAL OPPORTUNITY    The Anderson Center provides equal opportunity for all people to participate in and benefit from the activities of the Center, regardless of race, national origin, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, in admission, access, or employment. The Anderson Center staff is willing to do what they can to accommodate residents with disabilities, and DAR has successfully supported DeafBlind artists. Please email before applying to discuss special needs.