Since 1995, the Anderson Center has served the artistic community and the citizens of Minnesota through artistic leadership, program development, and support. It is the mission of the Anderson Center to uphold the unique wealth of the arts in the region; to develop, foster, and promote the creation of works by artists of all kinds; and to provide leadership and services that help to insure a strong, healthy arts community and a greater recognition of the value of arts in society.

The Center does this by:

-Providing retreats of two to four weeks duration to enable artists, writers, and scholars to advance or complete work in progress
-Participating in the planning and presenting of collaborative public programs with other cultural entities in Red Wing and elsewhere
-Restoring and preserving the buildings and grounds of the historic Tower View estate
-Editing and publishing Minnesota's oldest continuously published literary journal, Great River Review

Set on 330 acres in the blufflands region of the upper Mississippi, the Anderson Center provides artists, writers and scholars with dedicated time and space to pursue their work. The emphasis of process over product leads to an exciting environment that enables risk- taking, allows for new directions, and is deeply respectful of both the creative individual and his or her work.

As a fully accredited member of the National Alliance of Artists' Communities and RES ARTIS: International Association of Residential Arts Centres, the Anderson Center serves creative people of all kinds - writers, poets, visual artists, sculptors, composers, dancers, archaeologists, anthropologists, scholars, and others. The interdisciplinary nature of the Center inspires creative dialogue among the disciplines and places the Center at the forefront of thoughtful exchange.

In addition to 18 on-site artist studios, the Center offers a black and white equipped dark room, an outdoor kiln, glass-blowing studio, blacksmith shop, printmaking facilities, and a press-in-residence.