Happy 100th!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DON

Don Anderson is celebrating his 100th birthday today!

The Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program was conceived by businessman and artist Donald B. Anderson in 1967. He was drawn to the region because of its oil and gas potential. Anderson, who served in the Navy during the Second World War, moved from his hometown of Chicago to rural Roswell in 1946 to work in the oil refinery business with his brother. By the mid-1960s, Anderson was a highly successful oil executive and an accomplished painter. Eventually, Anderson developed the idea of creating a residency program for contemporary visual artists. His vision was to enhance the cultural environment of Roswell and southeastern New Mexico by bringing artists of national importance to live and work in the tranquility of the high plains. For over 50 years the RAiR Foundation has provided hundreds of studio artists with the "Gift of Time" to focus on their work with minimum distraction for one full year.  Thank you, Don!