Responsible travel

Our values – respect and kindness towards people, places & the planet

Ever since we set up Wild at Art in 2012, what we do and how we do it has been guided by respect for, and kindness towards, the places we visit and the people we work with, but also others that are in some way affected by our activities. This approach just came to us naturally anyway and with the general shift in focus towards more sustainable travel we’re actively seeking to make a positive contribution and minimize any negative impacts in a more conscious manner. We feel lucky in that the kind of travellers our creative experiences attract tend to be very much on the same wavelength as we are on that.

We promote travel that is inspiring and enriching, and at the same time benefits local communities and helps to protect our earth.

Putting our values into practice

In summary, these are the principles that underpin our work:

Slow & mindful travel

With Scotland having such an abundance of stunning and wonderful locations it can be tempting to cram as much as possible into one trip. And we sometimes forget that ideally the point of going on holidays is to slow down and just experience a place. We believe that taking a slower pace allows our guests to better connect with a location and benefiting more from that life-enriching effect of a creative vacation. This is especially true for art retreats such as the Iona Art Experience, where the pace is slower overall and no transport other than getting to and from Iona is required.

Nurturing respect and appreciation through authentic experiences

We love curating creative experiences and a lot of research and exploration goes into every single one of the itineraries. When putting together an itinerary we really dig deep, meet with locals to listen to their stories and nurture new partnerships. Those “ingredients” that are the most real and authentic also offer the best opportunities for our guests to develop their creative skills and at the same time learn about traditional as well as contemporary Scottish arts and crafts, cultural heritage and local environments. This usually involves bringing in locals to share their stories and visiting local artists’ studios and workshops.

Among many other “ingredients”, the itinerary for our Skye Textile Experience , for example, includes a visit and tour at Skye Weavers, who are passionate about the need to preserve the knowledge and quality associated with Scottish tweeds and garments.The same tour takes us to The Handspinner Having Fun in Broadford, where we spend a day crafting. They promote the use of fleece from rare breed sheep and produce products that are ‘slow fashion’, which encourages us to buy fewer garments of higher quality and made using more sustainable processes. HHF select their knitters and spinners from local populations, or people who have close ties to Skye; this helps to support a small, vulnerable, rural community. We also visit Shilasdair Yarns & Natural Dye Shop to learn how they achieve such a rich colour palette for their yarns just from local plants that grow close to their workshop.

Supporting local economies & initiatives

When it comes to choosing tutors, suppliers and supplies we go for local options as much as we can, providing they fit the bill in terms of quality and inspiration factor. When paying our tutors we pay fair fees, using the rates recommended by the Scottish Artists’ Union for guidance.

Many of our partners are charities or local enterprises, such as the Coorie Creative weaving studio in Stirling, a social enterprise whose commercial workshops fund therapeutic weaving classes for people who have experienced loss or trauma.

The venues we use for studio spaces are community spaces run by community organisations where hire fees directly benefit local communities – the Kilfinan Community Forest Centre in Tighnabruaich, the Bays Community Centre and the West Harris Trust’s Talla Na Mara centre on the Isle of Harris and Iona Village – to name a few.

We visit local galleries and museums, and artists get to tell their stories and showcase their work, increasing visibility far beyond their local areas through the memories – and purchases 🙂 – creative guests take back to their home countries.

Our partner hotel Ten Hill Place in Edinburgh is owned by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and all profits go directly towards the training of surgeons worldwide.

We always keep our eyes and ears open for local happenings, so we can build visits to local events, such as theatre performances or music nights our guests might enjoy, into our itinerary. This often happens quite spontaneously – we recognise an interesting opportunity when we see it!

Places & seasons less travelled

Scotland, with its stunning landscapes and special light is beautiful all year round, not just in the traditional tourism season. In a move to make this out-of-season beauty more visible and accessible to visitors, we’re adding more creative experiences outwith the busiest months.

Similarly, there are less well known places in Scotland that are fantastic but often overlooked when holiday plans are made. On the other hand there are tourism hotspots in danger of over-tourism. We love finding the hidden gems – such as Argyll’s Secret Coast and the Scottish Borders – and invite guest to discover them too. We’re working on the itinerary for a new textile tour of the Scottish Borders in the South of Scotland for September 2026 – watch this space!

Caring for the natural environment

We are lucky to live and work in one of the most beautiful countries of the world and are committed to preserving its natural environment and minimise negative impacts as much as we can. Ways in which we do this include:

• Saving on the carbon footprint of commuting and energy use that comes with running an office, as we work from home and local coffee shops.
• Using small local transport providers and public transport rather than running our own road transport vehicles.
• Advising guest on public transport options for getting to and from holiday locations.
• Encouraging guests to bring their own reusable water bottles and providing them as necessary.
• Reusing art equipment and materials as much as possible.
• Going paperless and only printing (using recycled printer cartridges) if absolutely needed.
• Avoiding single use plastic items (e.g. for snacks and picnics during trips).
• Avoiding and recycling waste as much as possible.

Our preferred and recommended supplier of art materials is Jackson’s. As well as reducing packaging as much as possible, they make their packaging as environmentally-friendly as it can be. It’s great how their top quality arts materials arrive wrapped in recyclable or compostable stuff.

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Values become more powerful when shared

It’s important to us that the people we work with share our values as much as possible and join us in communicating them as appropriate. Some of our tutors are actively involved in conservation projects or similar initiatives: Nicky Sanderson’s practice examines landscapes, coasts and seas of Scotland, focusing on marine ecologies and species, as well as the archaeology of the locations we visit. She is investigating .how best to achieve this in the context of climate change and to encourage respect for conservation of our environment.

Leo du Feu is involved in environmental campaigning and regular voluntary bird surveys for the British Trust for Ornithology. He teaches regular art workshops for Edinburgh charity Art in Healthcare and gives talks about his Scotland by Rail Scotrail-supported art & nature travels.

In a short video on her profile page Skye-based artist Ellis O’Conner explains how art can be a very powerful way of raising awareness of and putting others in touch with the natural environment.

The partners we work with on the Skye Textile Experience all have a strong focus on sustainability. Here are some examples: –

• Shilasdair Yarns use plants that grow in their workshop’s immediate surroundings and spring water for dyeing yarn supplied by their partners, who in turn have a focus on ethical and sustainable practices.
• Skye Skyns are the only sheepskin tannery in Scotland and the skins they process are all by-products. They source their skins from the nearest abattoir near Inverness, keeping transport miles to a minimum and preventing Scottish raw skins being exported to producers overseas. Skye Skyns recycle wherever they can.
• Island at the Edge, the croft in Edinbane where we’ll spend a full day, live ‘off grid’ and generate their own electricity via green technology including solar panels. The wool they use for spinning and knitting comes from their own croft.

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