Bothy Project is a charitable organisation offering opportunities for artists and other creatives to conduct residencies in unique and inspirational environments. The network of simple off-grid shelters promotes a slower pace of life, providing more time for contemplation and resulting in increased exposure to nature and the local community.

Bothy Project provides creative residences for practitioners in visual arts, craft & design, music, literature and performance, as well as thinkers, researchers, and people local to each bothy. Residents are able to use their residencies to explore creativity, landscape and living simply. Active in Scotland since 2011, its network currently comprises Inshriach Bothy in the Cairngorms National Park, Sweeney’s Bothy on the Isle of Eigg and Pig Rock Bothy which will soon be re-built in Assynt after nearly six years at National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh. Its spaces are bespoke, small-scale, and off-grid. Beginning in 2021 the bothies will operate as sentinels of communication with the best experience and learning generated by residents shared widely through a new public programme. Bothy Project is a charity supported by its trading arm Bothy Stores which donates a portion of its profit each year to support artists’ mobility and access to the Scottish landscape.

Bothy Project was initiated by artist Bobby Niven and architect Iain MacLeod, realising the first art residency bothy in 2011 thanks to support from the Royal Scottish Academy Residencies for Scotland programme. The bothy was part fabricated during the RSA residency at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and then transported to Inshriach Estate near Aviemore where the build was completed in a traditional Scottish woodland area in the Cairngorm National Park.

The Artist Bothy is an evolution of the Bothy Project network of off-grid artist residency spaces. Designed by the project’s founders, artist Bobby Niven and architect Iain MacLeod, it was developed in response to demand for a multipurpose self-contained cabin that can be located anywhere.

Bothy Stores is committed to using sustainable, innovative materials and streamlined building techniques to create simple, modern products. Modelled on the Bothy Project’s popular Inshriach Bothy, the Artist Bothy is a pioneering piece of low-impact architecture designed to enhance the experience of spending time in nature all year round.

The Artist Bothy furthers Bothy Project’s mission to support artist mobility and access to the Scottish landscape. Every Bothy purchased helps fund opportunities for artists and researchers to access the Bothy Project’s core network of residency bothies. To deliver this vision, Bothy Stores Ltd was founded in 2017.

Bothy Stores is supported by Scottish Enterprise and Social Investment Scotland. The development of the Artist Bothy was supported by Susanna Beaumont.

Each year, the organization offers multiple opportunities both funded and independently funded. Check their residencies regularly to stay updated. As of 2021, the Bothy Project has calls for three funded programs: Creative Practitioner Residencies, Neighborhood Residencies, Cross Currents.