Room 13 began in 1994 when a group of students at Caol Primary School in the West Highlands of Scotland decided to open their own arts studio. They ran the studio as a business, raising enough money for supplies and to hire an artist-in-residence to work with them.
Room 13 first grew into a network of studios in the UK. Now, there are dozens of Room 13 programs in 14 countries worldwide. Each program is run a little differently, but they all operate with the objective of being student lead and self-sustaining.