STUDIO BOTER started with Anika and Nathalie getting together to make a plan for a pop up concept store in the centre of Haren. In this place a bit below the city of Groningen there is a creative hotspot called the Biotoop where artists live and work. And there are a lot of empty shops in the shopping centre, so we got asked if we wanted to fill one of those shops with a concept store. And so we made a plan. And we waited. And waited. No owner of a vacant building dared to join us in this project. 

But then Carex Groningen had a vacant shop they took care of, something they never usually have. And so we sent them our plan, together with a lot of enthusiastic messages. And within a week we had the key to what we now call STUDIO BOTER. 

After some chaotic months of collecting the interior, building the butter yellow counter (Anika did this herself, how cool is that!), navigating through rules of the Gemeente Groningen and Historical Buildings and collecting the first creatives that wanted to sell at the Boter we opened the store in October 2024. We had fun hosting cosy events and meeting all the creatives. But since we started with a pop up plan we evaluated in January. Anika decided to go on a new adventure. And Nathalie kept going with the Studio. The foundations we put there together still stand strong: It's a creative living room where we want people to feel welcome and invite them to chill out and get creative themselves. 

SPACE
A creative living room vibe. That's what we are going for. Where everyone feels welcome and is free to craft. There is always some creative chaos going on and we invite you to join. We have craft materials available and always some markers and paper to use freely.

SHOP
There is so much cool stuff being made close by, we just need a place to find it! And that's where Studio Boter comes in. As a "professional fangirl" I collect products and artwork I think you will like. And the coolest thing in my opinion is finding something you love, placing it in your house... And being able to meet the artist! They hang around in the Studio or you'll find them at a random event in the city. If you have a question or a request it's so easy to connect and that is awesome! All of our products and art are local. So if you buy something at the Studio you support a local artist. Cool right?

WORKSHOPS
All of our workshops are hosted by artists that know what they are doing. They take you with them in their world and teach you all about the materials and/or craft. Made a mistake? No worries, they know exactly how to fix it because they have made the mistakes themselves learning how to do this! In every workshop we value authenticity and making mistakes. Because that is how we learn and make something that expresses us.

SUSTAINABILITY
Every little thing you do helps. We won't claim to be super sustainable. We throw away food, don't recycle all the creative waste (just a part of it) and have to use a lot of gas to heat our space. But we do little things. For example, did you know the mugs that are hanging on the butter yellow counter are for sale for 1 euro? This way you can have your coffee to go without having to use plastic cups. And they are all thrifted!

COMMUNITY
We don't just use the guideline "creative living room" with the interior of the space. No. We actually want you to feel welcome. To be a place where you can hang out, do a creative project and meet other people.

"Be the change you wish yo see in the world"

The pink benches outside are for everyone to enjoy. Even if you don't go in the store. Our toilet is free to use for everyone because how weird is it you can't just go to the toilet when you need to go? We also have free menstrual products for you if you need 'em. And since it seems important to say (even though it should be normal): We are a queer friendly space. 

Many of you expect an interesting story behind it but we'd have to dissapoint you. We had many brainstorm sessions for a quirky, mindblowing name. But one of the first we thought of sticked so we went with it. Because the building is housed in the Oude BOTERingestraat it's BOTER. And since we wanted to have the store feel like our playground we went with STUDIO. Because a Studio can be anything!

We mentioned Carex before and want to tell you more about them. They are an organisation that uses vacant buildings to fill them with temporary living an work spaces. This way the buildings are not being vandalised or even torn down.

Authenticity is something they value. This is why it houses a lot of artists and people that want to live the way they envision living. There usually is a mix of different people. Young and old, artists and residents. A lot of cool projects start from Carex since they believe being part of the society around them is important. 

You can find more about them here: www.carex.nl

You might have noticed the building of STUDIO BOTER is a space filled with character. It’s not a shoe box without a soul but a space with stairs, stained glass windows and wobbly floorboards. It is a historic building that has a Monument Status. This means we take care of her and won't drill any holes. It's why we have creative solutions for putting our art on the walls. 

Researchers think some of the construction of the building was done in the 17th century, some was added in the 18th and it got made into a store in the 19th century. This is most visible in the basement, which you as a visitor can not see ;) Sorry. You can find the Delft Blue tiles as shown in the picture, isn’t that cool?

We are still looking for some more history (hit us up if you know more or want to help!) but we know this:

• In 1930 it housed the Pharmacy, probably owned by a L. Gaaikema and/or a J. Rijpma

• In 1951 there is a liquor store owned by J. Mulder. It was there for quite a while

• In 1990 the Oude Boteringestraat became the stage of a fight between squatters and the police. You can find more information here: https://www.rtvnoord.nl/misdaad/1301182/35-jaar-na-de-slag-om-het-wolters-noordhoff-complex-het-was-oorlog

• It was a (vintage?) clothing store (we forgot the name. Do you know? Contact us :) )

• And right before us it was also a clothing store called "Imperium" with quirky clothes of good quality (is what the customers say looking for them and finding us instead).

Want to know more? Come by our store to ask all your questions or send an email to studioboter@gmail.com