The Anderson Center’s Winter Retreat program is a short-term residency during the organization’s off-season for artists and writers seeking concentrated creative time for reflection and the advancement of their personal artistic goals. A Winter Retreat at the Anderson Center is a fee-based opportunity for up to four artists at a time to live in community and fellowship while working on their own projects in the inspiring setting of the historic Tower View Estate.

The Anderson Center is currently accepting applications for sessions of 1 to 4 weeks in duration from Monday, January 8 to Sunday, February 4, 2023. Arrival takes place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each Monday and includes a short orientation. Check out is by 10 a.m. on Sundays. Spaces are rented on a first come, first serve basis and acceptance is made at the discretion of staff. There is no fee to apply. Application or participation in a Winter Retreat in no way affects eligibility or selection for other Anderson Center Residency Programs.

Practicing artists of all backgrounds and at any stage of their career are encouraged to apply. A self-paced Winter Retreat may be a good fit for artists & writers who need time away from daily responsibilities and distractions to focus on a creative project, visual artists needing access to the Anderson Center’s specific studio facilities, or educators seeking focused creative time during a winter break or sabbatical. A Winter Retreat is also an ideal opportunity for collaborating artists to advance a project or work alongside one another at Tower View.

If you have any questions about Winter Retreats, please contact Program Director Adam M. Wiltgen at 651-388-2009 x4.

RATES, ACCOMMODATIONS, & AMENITIES
The weekly rate for a Winter Retreat at the Anderson Center is $600. A 10% discount is offered to local artists living with in Goodhue County, Minnesota. A 50% deposit is due upon acceptance with the balance due at arrival. There is no fee to apply. Notification of acceptance and confirmation of dates will be emailed within a week of receiving application.

A Winter Retreat in the Historic Tower View Residence includes a private bedroom and a private bathroom, along with access to a fully equipped kitchen, laundry room, living room, dining room, and several common spaces. Bedrooms are equipped with either a king bed, full bed, or twin beds; a desk, a dresser, a large closet, and a comfortable chair.

Linens and towels are provided. The house is cleaned weekly. Couples are welcome and may share bedroom/studio if desired (weekly rate applies to each person). Children and pets (except for certified service animals) are unable to be accommodated during Winter Retreats.

The Granary Printmaking Studio (with a Vandercook 219 letterpress and Charles Brand-like etching press) is available for Winter Retreats for $150/week. The fee for a 15' x 26' visual art studio in the North Studios complex (with a sink, heater, easels, and tables) is $100/week.

The Anderson Center does not supply paper or any visual art supplies. Residents are generally expected to bring supplies and tools with them, or have supplies sent to the Center prior to arrival. All Winter Retreat participants should be able and willing to work independently.

Dancers and choreographers interested in using the Tower View Barn for movement work are encouraged to inquire with staff regarding availability and rates. Musicians and composers interested in utilizing the Tower View Barn (and its Grand Royale piano) are likewise encouraged to make a special request about rates and availability.

The Anderson Center does not hire a chef for Winter Retreats and no meals or groceries are provided. Participating writers and artists are expected to do their own grocery shopping and their own cooking in the fully equipped kitchen. There are numerous grocery stores, gourmet shops and restaurants nearby.

Artists are responsible for their own transportation. Given the time of year, Tower View’s location, and that no food is provided, participating artists and writers staying longer than one week are required to have their own car with them.

CANCELLATION / REFUND POLICY
Before December 1, cancellations will be offered a refund of their deposit. Beginning December 1, deposits are non-refundable. Cancellations will not be offered a refund of their deposit on or after December 1.


VACCINATION POLICY
Prior to arrival, all artists are sent a Retreat Handbook outlining many items related to daily life, including the most current safety policies and protocols. The organization's goal is to balance standard pandemic policies and clear expectations while also highlighting areas where communication or flexibility within each cohort might be beneficial or needed.

The Anderson Center Residency Program trusts that artists know what they need most to advance their individual practices and how best to use their time to benefit their own work and reach their own goals. Likewise, artists are empowered to collectively make changes where appropriate and ultimately build the artist community they'd like to see.

At the same time, and as is outlined in the Retreat Handbook, the Anderson Center is committed to supporting artists by creating a safe space for their residency experience. As such, the organization requires all participating Winter Retreat artists to provide proof COVID-19 vaccination (and a booster within the last 12 months) prior to arrival.

Of course even with all of these precautions, by simply participating in an the retreat program with other artists, there is an inherent risk of exposure, even for vaccinated persons, that is beyond the ability of the Anderson Center to control entirely. By applying to this program you are communicating that you are comfortable with that risk and that you are also up-to-date on your COVID vaccinations (or will be prior to arrival). A COVID-19 risk acknowledgement and liability waiver is included in the retreat agreement.

ABOUT THE ANDERSON CENTER
The Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, founded in 1995 on the Tower View estate in rural Red Wing, Minn., has renovated and restored 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.

The Anderson Center's flagship artist residency program runs May through October each year and enables artists, writers, musicians, and performers of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment to create, advance, or complete work. In addition to community engagement activities through the artist residency program, the organization has a strong history of helping integrate the arts into community life through local partnerships, hosting annual arts events and participating in other community-based initiatives.


LOCATION
The Anderson Center campus is located on the 350-acre historic Tower View Estate, 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.
The community of Red Wing, Minn., (pop. 16,000) is nestled amidst the scenic bluffs of the upper Mississippi River. 

The town is settled on the ancestral homelands of the Mdewakanton & Wahpakute bands of the Dakota people. The City of Red Wing is named after Tatanka Mani (Walking Buffalo), a leader of the Mdewakanton Dakota in the upper Mississippi Valley who wore a ceremonial swan’s wing dyed in brilliant red. In 1815, Tatanka Mani and his people moved their village south to a place they called Khemnichan (Hill, Wood, & Water) in present-day downtown Red Wing. Euro-American immigrants who met him as they advanced into the region in the early nineteenth century came to know him and his village as “Red Wing.”

Since its settlement and eventual incorporation in 1857, Red Wing established itself as a center for agriculture, industry, tourism, medical care, technology, and the arts. The Red Wing Shoe Company and its iconic brands, in particular, continue to have a significant impact on the community’s economic, business, and community development climates. Natural resources abound with Red Wing's riverfront, winding paths through the majestic bluffs, bike trails, and 35 city parks. The Prairie Island Indian Community is located northwest of the city. Frontenac State Park is to the southeast on Lake Pepin. Minnesota State College Southeast Technical’s Red Wing campus is known for its string and brass instrument repair programs. The MN Dept. of Corrections also operates a large juvenile residential facility in Red Wing.

Other amenities include a destination bakery, a chocolate shop, coffee shops, restaurants, the flagship 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, the Red Wing Marine Museum, a Target, several pharmacies, a plant nursery & garden center, a Mayo Health System Hospital, a small independent bookstore, and a public library.

Other key community stakeholders include the historic Sheldon Theatre, the Red Wing Arts Association, Red Wing YMCA, Red Wing Youth Outreach, Hispanic Outreach of Goodhue County, Red Wing Area Friends of Immigrants, Red Wing Area Women’s Network, Live Healthy Red Wing, Artreach, Red Wing Artisan Collective, the Artist Sanctuary, Pier 55 Red Wing Area Seniors, Big Turn Music Festival, Red Wing AAUW, Red Wing Environmental Learning Center, Red Wing Girl Scouts, Red Wing Public Schools, Tower View Alternative School, and Universal Music Center, as well as several City boards, commissions, and departments.


PROGRAM MISSION & VALUES
"This stay is particularly suitable for artists who want to devote themselves intensively to the realization of a concept. Here you can devote yourself to artistic work undisturbed and far away from everyday worries." - Eva Möseneder, 2012 resident

The mission of the Anderson Center is to, in the unique and historic setting of Tower View, offer residencies in the arts, sciences, and humanities; provide a dynamic environment for the exchange of ideas; encourage the pursuit of creative and scholarly endeavors; and serve as a forum for significant contributions to society.

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 or arrange regular structured activities. 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.

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.

Since 2014 the Anderson Center has offered such month-long residencies in alternating years to small groups of Deaf artists, including poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers, whose native or adoptive language is American Sign Language (ASL). Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Anderson Center's Deaf Artist Residency is the only program in the country that is Deaf-centric. It was developed with the goal of contributing to the creation of a local and national network of Deaf culture-creators.

The Anderson Center’s Jerome Emerging Artist Residency Program offers month-long residency-fellowships to a cohort of early-career artists from Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City. Offering a stipend & travel honorarium, the program aims to meet the specific needs of emerging artists while welcoming them into a supportive and inspiring residency environment that empowers them to take risks, embrace challenges, and utilize unconventional approaches to problem-solving.

In 2021, the Anderson Center launched the First Step Public Artist Residency Program, a month-long residency-fellowship for one public artist, cultural producer, or social practitioner living and working within the state of Minnesota to deepen their practice in storytelling, cultural arts organizing, and collaborative community engagement while serving as a catalyst for social action & relationship building in rural Red Wing, MN.

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 operates in cooperation with Stadt-Salzburg Artist-in-Residence Program and is open to emerging and mid-career Minnesota artists. Quzhou Artist Exchange partners with the Quzhou College of Technology and is only open to artists living in or around Red Wing. The Center also participates in annual scholarship programs with the MFA programs at The University of Minnesota and Pacific Lutheran University in Washington.

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, with the belief that the exchange of ideas is generative. The residency program supports artists from around the world, representing a wide range of cultures, races, sexual identities and genders. The Center strives to bring people and ideas together and operates with a spirit of welcome for all.


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. Please call before applying to discuss special needs.