Since 1894, a group of Bristol artists had been meeting on Wednesday evenings to paint together informally and as friends. Then in 1904 they decided to formalise the group and called the society at that time, 'Bristol Savages'. Various locations in Bristol were used for meetings but in 1907 the society was able to use a cottage on Brandon Hill. When the need to vacate that location occurred, in 1919 a leading member of the society took the opportunity together with some Bristol businessmen to purchase the Red Lodge in Park Row - for the sake of both the City of Bristol and the 'Bristol Savages' society. They renovated the building and members of the society built a hall, as its meeting place for Art and Entertainment, in its grounds built in the style of a Gloucestershire Tithe Barn and called it the Wigwam. In 1920, the society gifted the whole Red Lodge site to the City of Bristol and through leases with the City, the society remained entitled to occupy and use the Wigwam and premises on its side of the Red Lodge. During 2020, after consultation both within and outside the society, it was renamed Bristol 1904 Arts to recognise and reflect their location, history and purpose.