Where to See Outsider Art: Museums, Galleries and Art Environments Worldwide

The UK has a small but serious set of places to see real outsider art: Bethlem Museum of the Mind in Beckenham, the Gallery of Everything in London, Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, Outside In’s exhibitions around the country, and, in Swindon, us. Here is what each one is, and where to go beyond Britain when the interest bites properly.

The map

MuseumsGalleriesArt environmentsStudios and organisationsFairsJournals

In the UK

Bethlem Museum of the Mind, Beckenham. The museum and archive of the historic Bethlem Royal Hospital, with a collection that includes work made by its patients across two centuries. The closest thing Britain has to a national home for art made in psychiatric care, and the most moving room on this list.

The Gallery of Everything, London. The commercial arm of the Museum of Everything, dedicated to non-academic and private makers. If you want to buy serious outsider art in the UK, this is the front door.

Outside In, nationwide. The national charity supporting artists who face barriers to the art world, with a large online gallery of member artists and regular physical exhibitions around the country. If you are a self-taught artist reading this, they are also for you.

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester. A modern British art gallery and the long-time home of Outside In, with self-taught British artists in the collection alongside the trained ones, which is rather the point.

Raw Vision, Hertfordshire. Not a venue but the field’s journal of record, published in the UK since 1989. Read a few issues and you will know the territory better than most curators.

Studio BRUT, Swindon. Our own working studio and gallery for outsider art at Arclite House, with The BRUT List, our free public directory of self-taught artists and free entry, always. We are biased, and we are also an hour from London by train.

Also in the UK

A few more British doors worth knowing.

The Museum of Everything, London, UK. Travelling museum of self-taught and private makers founded by James Brett.
The Whitworth, Manchester, UK. University of Manchester gallery whose collections and programmes embrace outsider artists.
Henry Boxer Gallery, Richmond, UK. Long established London area dealer in outsider and visionary art, from Madge Gill to Nick Blinko.
Jennifer Lauren Gallery, Manchester, UK. Manchester dealer showing international outsider and self-taught artists.
Sardac, London, UK. London gallery specialising in art brut and outsider artists.
Arkbound Foundation, Bristol, UK. Charitable publisher in Bristol and Glasgow giving a platform to writers from marginalised backgrounds.
Project Ability, Glasgow, UK. Glasgow visual arts charity and gallery where disabled artists have worked since 1983.
Venture Arts, Manchester, UK. Manchester visual arts studio championing learning disabled artists.

Art environments you can visit

The pilgrimage sites: whole worlds built by one pair of hands, still standing and open to visitors. If the field has cathedrals, these are them.

Bruno Weber Park, Dietikon, Switzerland. Fantastical sculpture park and buildings made by Bruno Weber above Zurich.
Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan), Vientiane, Laos. Riverside sculpture park of over 200 concrete Buddhist and Hindu figures begun in 1958 by self-taught mystic Bunleua Sulilat.
Cathedrale de Jean Linard, Neuvy-deux-Clochers, France. Jean Linard’s handbuilt cathedral of concrete, ceramic and mosaic in the Berry countryside.
Coral Castle, Homestead, USA. Edward Leedskalnin’s coral stone castle, carved single handed over decades in Florida.
Garden of Eden, Lucas, USA. S.P. Dinsmoor’s concrete sculpture garden and cabin in Lucas, Kansas, begun in 1907.
Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village, Simi Valley, USA. Tressa Prisbrey’s village of shrines and buildings made from bottles and found objects.
Junkerhaus, Lemgo, Germany. Karl Junker’s astonishing carved house in Lemgo, a complete artwork built by one man over decades.
Las Pozas, Edward James Sculpture Garden, Xilitla, Mexico. Surrealist concrete garden of more than 28 structures built by Edward James in the Huasteca jungle from the 1960s, visited by guided tour.
Palais Ideal du Facteur Cheval, Hauterives, France. Ferdinand Cheval’s dream palace, built stone by stone over 33 years by a village postman.
Paradise Garden, Summerville, USA. Howard Finster’s visionary garden of towers, mosaics and painted sermons in Georgia.
Pasaquan, Buena Vista, USA. St EOM’s painted visionary compound in Georgia, restored and open to visitors.
Rochers Sculptes de Rotheneuf, Saint-Malo, France. Granite cliffs carved into hundreds of figures by the Abbe Foure in the 1890s.
Rock Garden of Chandigarh / Nek Chand Foundation, Chandigarh, India. Nek Chand’s forty acre garden of recycled sculpture, one of the world’s great outsider environments.
The Heidelberg Project, Detroit, USA. Tyree Guyton’s two block outdoor art environment on Detroit’s east side.
The Orange Show, Houston, USA. Jeff McKissack’s handbuilt monument to the orange, now the heart of a folk art foundation.
The Owl House, Nieu-Bethesda, South Africa. Visionary house and Camel Yard of over 300 concrete and glass sculptures made by Helen Martins between 1945 and 1976, open daily as a museum.
Village d’Art Preludien de Chomo, Acheres-la-Foret, France. Chomo’s forest village of raw sculpture and buildings near Fontainebleau, seen on guided visits.
Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, Wilson, USA. Park of Vollis Simpson’s giant restored wind machines in downtown Wilson, North Carolina.
Watts Towers Arts Center, Los Angeles, USA. Simon Rodia’s steel and mosaic towers in Watts, with an arts centre alongside.
Wisconsin Concrete Park, Phillips, USA. Fred Smith’s roadside field of over 200 concrete and glass figures.

Europe

Museums and collections first, then galleries, then the supported studios and organisations that keep the field alive.

Art et Marges Musee, Brussels, Belgium. Brussels museum of outsider and marginal art in the Marolles district.
Casa dell’Art Brut, Turin, Italy. Museum and study centre for art brut with spaces in Turin and Mairano di Casteggio.
Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland. Jean Dubuffet’s founding collection of art brut, the cornerstone museum of the whole field.
Croatian Museum of Naive Art, Zagreb, Croatia. World’s first museum of naive art, founded 1952, home of the Hlebine school painters.
GAIA Museum Outsider Art, Randers, Denmark. Danish outsider art museum with gallery, shop and workshops staffed by people with special needs.
Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, France. Paris museum and bookshop devoted to art brut and singular art, with ambitious rotating exhibitions.
K.H. Renlund Museum, Kokkola, Finland. Regional museum in Kokkola with a notable holding of Finnish ITE folk and outsider art.
Kondas Centre, Viljandi, Estonia. Estonian centre of naive art in Viljandi, named after painter Paul Kondas.
Kunsthaus Kannen, Muenster, Germany. Museum for art brut and contemporary outsider art at the Alexianer campus.
La Fabuloserie, Dicy, France. Alain Bourbonnais’s house museum of art hors-les-normes, with a garden of large outdoor works.
La Ferme des Tilleuls, Renens, Switzerland. Arts centre near Lausanne with a programme that leans towards art brut and singular creators.
LaM, Lille Metropole Museum, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France. Museum near Lille holding the largest public art brut collection in France, built on the L’Aracine donation.
MAHHSA, Musee d’Art et d’Histoire de l’Hopital Sainte-Anne, Paris, France. Museum at the Sainte-Anne psychiatric hospital in Paris holding a major collection of patient art.
Musee Ceres Franco, La Cooperative, Montolieu, France. The Ceres Franco collection of outsider and singular art, shown in a former wine cooperative.
Musee de la Creation Franche, Begles, France. Municipal museum of creation franche founded around Gerard Sendrey’s circle, near Bordeaux.
Museum Dr. Guislain, Ghent, Belgium. Museum of psychiatry in a former asylum, with a major outsider art collection.
Museum Gugging, Maria Gugging, Austria. Museum of the celebrated Gugging artists, on the campus where they live and work.
Museum Haus Cajeth, Heidelberg, Germany. Small Heidelberg museum of primitive painting and outsider art in an old town palais.
Museum im Lagerhaus, St Gallen, Switzerland. Swiss museum for naive art and art brut with a strong permanent collection.
Museum Ovartaci, Aarhus, Denmark. Aarhus museum of art and psychiatry built around the painter Ovartaci’s life work.
Museum van de Geest, Haarlem, Netherlands. Museum of the mind in the old Dolhuys in Haarlem, successor home of the Outsider Art Museum collection.
Olomouc Museum of Art, Olomouc, Czechia. Czech museum whose collections include art brut alongside modern and contemporary art.
open art museum, St Gallen, Switzerland. Swiss museum in St Gallen devoted to outsider, naive art and art brut.
Safnasafnid, Akureyri, Iceland. The Icelandic folk and outsider art museum on Eyjafjordur, a beloved roadside treasure.
Sammlung Prinzhorn, Heidelberg, Germany. The historic collection of art made in psychiatric institutions, gathered by Hans Prinzhorn.
Silesian Museum, Katowice, Poland. Major Katowice museum with Poland’s finest collection of non professional and intuitive art.
Swiss Psychiatry Museum Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Museum at the Waldau clinic in Bern holding historic patient art, including works linked to Adolf Woelfli.
Trastad Samlinger, Borkenes, Norway. Museum and gallery in northern Norway preserving art from the Trastad home for people with learning disabilities.
Trinkhall Museum, Liege, Belgium. Liege museum, formerly MADmusee, showing work from studios for artists with learning disabilities.
Art Brut Gallery Lublin, Lublin, Poland. Gallery at the Centre for Culture in Lublin showing Polish and international art brut.
Christian Berst Art Brut, Paris, France. Leading Paris gallery devoted entirely to art brut.
Copenhagen Outsider Art Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark. Danish gallery devoted to outsider art.
Galerie Arthur Borgnis, Paris, France. Paris gallery dealing in art brut and outsider artists.
Galerie Claire Corcia, Paris, France. Paris gallery showing singular and outsider artists.
Galerie DYS, Brussels, Belgium. Brussels gallery for outsider and marginal art.
Galerie Escale Nomad, Paris, France. Paris gallery for art brut, with a focus on artists from Africa and beyond.
Galerie Gugging, Maria Gugging, Austria. Gallery beside the Gugging museum selling work by its artists and their peers.
Galerie Herve Courtaigne, Paris, France. Saint-Germain gallery dealing in art brut and post-war singular artists.
Galerie Kahn, Ars-en-Re, France. French gallery on the Ile de Re dealing in art brut and singular art.
Galerie Pol Lemetais, Saint-Sever-du-Moustier, France. French gallery of art brut and singular art, long a fixture of the field.
Galerie Ritsch-Fisch, Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg gallery dealing in art brut and outsider classics.
Galleria GliAcrobati, Turin, Italy. Turin gallery specialising in art brut and irregular art.
La Pop Galerie, Sete, France. Gallery in Sete for outsider, popular and singular art.
Manicomio, Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon gallery and studio pairing art, mental health and human rights, founded 2018.
Maroncelli 12, Milan, Italy. Milan gallery devoted to outsider and irregular art.
Modesti Perdriolle Gallery, Brussels, Belgium. Brussels gallery known for Indian vernacular and outsider artists.
Outsider Art Galerie, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam gallery and supported studio showing outsider artists, with art lease and sales.
P28, Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon contemporary art gallery and association demystifying mental illness through art.
Pertti’s Choice, Helsinki, Finland. Helsinki outsider art gallery and agency taking Finnish outsider artists to international fairs.
Rizomi Art Brut, Parma, Italy. Italian gallery dealing in art brut and outsider artists.
Trebnje Gallery of Naive and Self-taught Artists, Trebnje, Slovenia. Slovenian public gallery collecting naive and self taught art since 1971.
Velvet Room, Ghent, Belgium. Ghent gallery, cinema and studio with a soft spot for outsider and underground art.
A-Konst, Lund, Sweden. Artist association and studio in Lund working with outsider and self taught artists.
Adolf Woelfli Foundation, Bern, Switzerland. Foundation at the Kunstmuseum Bern caring for the vast drawn and written world of Adolf Woelfli.
Art Centre Into, Turku, Finland. Volunteer run art centre in Turku supporting outsider artists.
Art Centre Yellow Art, Geel, Belgium. Studio in Geel, the town famed for community psychiatric care, where artists with mental health experience make and show work.
Art Diversia, Torredelcampo, Spain. Inclusive art studio in Andalusia working with artists with disabilities.
Atelier 5 Mariaberg, Gammertingen, Germany. Open studio at the Mariaberg foundation where artists with disabilities work and exhibit.
Atelier HPCA, Munich, Germany. Augustinum studio community near Munich of around twenty artists with a connected gallery.
Atelier Rohling, Bern, Switzerland. Studio in Bern’s PROGR arts centre where artists with and without disabilities work side by side.
Atelier23, Arnhem, Netherlands. Supported studio at De Buitenplaats in Arnhem for artists with disabilities.
Aurora Verksted, Haslum, Norway. Cooperative studio near Oslo where neurodiverse and differently abled artists make and sell work.
Autism Foundation Finland / Vallila Art Studio, Helsinki, Finland. Foundation running the Vallila art studio for autistic artists in Helsinki.
Bilbao Formarte, Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao studio and school whose art brut workshop shows at European fairs.
Business Art Service, Utrecht, Netherlands. Dutch art rental organisation placing work by outsider artists in workplaces.
Cavallo Blu, Vigevano, Italy. Art studio and cultural association in Vigevano supporting irregular artists.
Costruttori di Babele, Italy. Italian project documenting outsider art builders and environments across the country.
Das Atelier, Die Bruecke Lahr, Lahr, Germany. Studio of the social psychiatric service in Lahr where outsider artists work and show.
Debajo del Sombrero, Madrid, Spain. Madrid platform where artists with intellectual disabilities create work inside major art institutions.
European Outsider Art Association, Randers, Denmark. Umbrella network linking outsider art museums, galleries and supported studios across Europe.
Forme in Bilico, Turin, Italy. Turin association caring for the city’s outsider art collection at the Centro Arte Singolare e Plurale.
Galerie Atelier Herenplaats, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rotterdam studio and gallery for artists with learning disabilities.
Inuti, Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm foundation running art studios for some seventy artists with intellectual disabilities.
Kaarisilta, Nastola, Finland. Finnish art centre and gallery supporting artists with special needs since 1986.
KAOS KunstAtelier OpperStraat, Brussels, Belgium. Brussels art atelier where outsider artists work alongside volunteers and freelance artists.
Kettuki, Hamenlinna, Finland. Finnish national network and studio hub for equal art by artists with disabilities.
Konstskolan Linnea, Stockholm, Sweden. Inclusive preparatory art school in Skarholmen for artists on the autism spectrum or with intellectual disabilities.
Kreative Werkstatt Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, Germany. Creative workshop and gallery aNdereRSeitS at the Lobetal diaconal community near Berlin.
Kultur och Kvalitet, Stockholm, Sweden. Swedish non profit building networks and exhibitions for outsider art at home and abroad.
Kunstraum Lebenshilfe, Nuremberg, Germany. Nuremberg outsider art studio run by Lebenshilfe within its WerkStadt.
Kunstwerkstatt Mosaik, Berlin, Germany. Berlin art workshop where artists with disabilities have worked professionally since 1996.
L’Aracine, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France. Association whose art brut collection became the core of the LaM museum holdings.
La S Grand Atelier, Vielsalm, Belgium. Belgian art brut laboratory where mixed teams of artists work side by side in Vielsalm.
List an landamaera (Art Without Borders), Reykjavik, Iceland. Icelandic festival and organisation promoting art by disabled and outsider artists.
little ART, Munich, Germany. Munich organisation for children’s art at the Muenchner Kuenstlerhaus, an EOA member.
Lue Lu Foundation / Brut Now, Poznan, Poland. Poznan foundation promoting Polish art brut through the Brut Now programme.
MSL Association for Rural Culture and Education, Helsinki, Finland. Finnish cultural association behind the ITE network documenting contemporary folk and outsider art.
Open Art Studio, Brno, Czechia. Masaryk University studio in Brno joining art therapy, education and outsider art.
OriginArt, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Dutch art lending organisation circulating work by outsider artists.
Outsiderville, St Petersburg, Russia. St Petersburg non profit with its own collection supporting artists with mental health conditions.
PsyArt Collection, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. Academic collection in Budapest of art made in Hungarian psychiatric contexts.
Studio Borgerstein, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium. Belgian art atelier for adults with disabilities with its own exhibition programme.
Susoespai, Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona centre joining creation and mental health, with studios and museum partnerships.
vielraum, St Gallen, Switzerland. Open studio in St Gallen making space for outsider art practice.

The Americas

North to south: museums, galleries, then studios and organisations.

American Folk Art Museum, New York, USA. New York museum of folk and self-taught art, home of the Henry Darger study centre.
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, USA. America’s national museum for visionary self-taught art, at the foot of Federal Hill.
Grassroots Art Center, Lucas, USA. Kansas museum of grassroots art in the town that holds the Garden of Eden.
Intuit Art Museum, Chicago, USA. Chicago’s museum of intuitive and outsider art, keeper of Henry Darger’s room.
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, USA. Wisconsin arts centre with the world’s leading collection of whole artist-built environments.
Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, USA. Orlando museum built around the Earl Cunningham collection of self-taught painting.
Museo de Arte Popular, Mexico City, Mexico. Folk art museum in a former fire station in the historic centre, with textiles, pottery, alebrijes and other Mexican popular art.
Museo de Arte Popular Americano Tomas Lago, Santiago, Chile. University of Chile museum founded 1944 with over 8,000 pieces of Chilean and Latin American popular art, showing at the GAM cultural centre.
Museo de Arte Popular Jose Hernandez, Buenos Aires, Argentina. City museum in Palermo collecting and exhibiting Argentine popular art, from silverwork and leather to textiles.
Museu Bispo do Rosario Arte Contemporanea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Free museum at the Juliano Moreira colony holding the work of Arthur Bispo do Rosario and artists marked by psychiatric institutionalisation.
Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Museum founded 1952 by psychiatrist Nise da Silveira, holding hundreds of thousands of works made in its therapeutic studios.
Museum of Bad Art, Boston, USA. Cheerful collection of sincerely made art gone wrong, shown around Boston.
Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, USA. Vast folk art collection including self-taught and visionary work from over 100 countries.
Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, USA. Vermont museum village with deep American folk art holdings.
Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, USA. New York gallery representing major self-taught artists, whose owner also runs the Outsider Art Fair.
Anton Haardt Gallery, New Orleans, USA. Deep collection of Southern outsider art including Mose Tolliver and Jimmy Lee Sudduth.
Art Sales and Research, Clinton Corners, USA. American dealer in self-taught and outsider art, a regular at the Outsider Art Fair.
Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, USA. New Orleans gallery of outsider, visionary and ethnographic art.
Beverly Kaye Gallery, Woodbridge, USA. Connecticut dealer showing outsider, self taught and vernacular art by appointment.
bG Gallery, Santa Monica, USA. Santa Monica gallery spanning contemporary and outsider work.
Bill Arning Exhibitions, Kinderhook, USA. Hudson Valley dealer and curator showing contemporary and self-taught artists.
Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York, USA. New York gallery showing art brut and self-taught art from around the world for four decades.
Chozick Family Art Gallery, New York, USA. New York gallery dealing in self-taught and outsider art.
Court Tree Collective, Brooklyn, USA. Brooklyn gallery showing folk, outsider and community rooted artists.
dieFirma, New York, USA. New York gallery and creative house exhibiting outsider and contemporary art.
Dutton, New York, USA. New York gallery pairing contemporary artists with self-taught masters.
Elza Kayal Gallery, New York, USA. New York gallery showing outsider and contemporary artists.
Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, Canada. Toronto gallery specialising in Inuit art old and new.
Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia, USA. Philadelphia gallery dealing in American self-taught masters since 1952.
FolkArtwork Collective, Des Moines, USA. Iowa collective dealing in folk and self-taught art.
Gagne Contemporary, Toronto, Canada. Toronto gallery showing contemporary and outsider artists across borders.
Galeria Estacao, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Pinheiros gallery founded 2004 championing Brazilian self-taught and popular artists alongside contemporary names.
Galerie Bonheur, Palm City, USA. Folk and outsider art gallery founded in St Louis, now based in Florida.
Gallery Jones, Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver gallery showing contemporary and outsider artists.
Gilley’s Gallery, Baton Rouge, USA. Louisiana gallery specialising in Clementine Hunter and Southern self-taught art.
Hal Bromm Gallery, New York, USA. Tribeca gallery with a long history of showing outsider and contemporary art.
Hana Pietri Gallery, Chicago, USA. Chicago gallery showing self-taught and outsider artists.
HeyThere Projects, Joshua Tree, USA. Joshua Tree project space showing self-taught and idiosyncratic artists.
Indigo Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, USA. Philadelphia gallery of Haitian, African and other international folk and outsider art.
James Barron Art, Kent, USA. Connecticut gallery mixing modern masters with self-taught discoveries.
Keith de Lellis Gallery, New York, USA. New York photography gallery bringing vernacular and self-taught photography to the fair.
Kishka Gallery and Library, White River Junction, USA. Vermont gallery and library devoted to self-taught art and artist books.
Koelsch Gallery, Houston, USA. Houston gallery mixing folk, outsider and contemporary Texas art.
La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, USA. Los Angeles gallery central to the lowbrow and outsider scene since 1986.
Lindsay Gallery, Columbus, USA. Columbus gallery championing Ohio folk and outsider artists.
M. David and Co., Brooklyn, USA. Brooklyn gallery whose programme reaches into outsider and visionary territory.
Marcia Weber Art Objects, Wetumpka, USA. Alabama dealer devoted to Southern self-taught artists.
Margaret Bodell / PREview, Bridgeport, USA. Connecticut dealer and advocate for self-taught and disability arts programmes.
Marion Harris, New York, USA. New York dealer known for curiosities and self-taught finds such as the Morton Bartlett dolls.
McCaughen and Burr, St Louis, USA. St Louis fine art house dealing in American self-taught and folk art.
Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, USA. Long running Chelsea gallery whose roster reaches into self-taught art.
Norman Brosterman, New York, USA. New York private dealer with a strong line in self-taught and visionary work.
Northern Daughters, Vergennes, USA. Vermont gallery showing self-taught and contemporary rural artists.
Oolong Gallery, Encinitas, USA. Southern California gallery showing outsider and contemporary art.
Pardee Collection, Iowa City, USA. Iowa gallery dealing in American outsider and folk art since the 1980s.
Portrait Society Gallery, Milwaukee, USA. Milwaukee gallery with a strong line in self-taught and vernacular art.
Powers and Lowenfels, New York, USA. New York dealers Steven S Powers and Joshua Lowenfels, specialists in folk and outsider art.
PULP, Holyoke, USA. Massachusetts gallery and community art space showing outsider work.
Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York, USA. Chelsea gallery central to the American self-taught art market since 1979.
SARAHCROWN, New York, USA. New York gallery showing international outsider and contemporary artists.
SHRINE, New York, USA. Lower East Side gallery moving between contemporary and self-taught art.
Stewart Gallery, Boise, USA. Boise gallery whose programme includes self-taught artists.
The Ruffed Grouse Gallery, Narrowsburg, USA. Upstate New York gallery for folk and outsider art.
Tucker Contemporary Art, Verona, USA. Dealer in contemporary and self-taught art, a regular at the Outsider Art Fair.
Van der Plas Gallery, New York, USA. Lower East Side gallery showing outsider and street influenced artists.
Webb Gallery, Waxahachie, USA. Texas gallery of self-taught art and wonderful oddities run by Bruce and Julie Webb.
Yard Dog, Austin, USA. Austin gallery of folk and outsider art from the American South and beyond.
ArTech Collective, New York, USA. New York studio collective supporting artists with developmental disabilities.
Center for Creative Works, Wynnewood, USA. Pennsylvania studio programme for artists with intellectual disabilities.
Community Arts Council of Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada. Canada’s oldest community arts council, an EOA member supporting outsider and community art.
Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, USA. Pioneering studio for artists with disabilities whose members hang in major museums.
Creativity Explored, San Francisco, USA. San Francisco studio and gallery where artists with developmental disabilities make and sell work.
Folk Art Society of America, Fredericksburg, USA. Membership society publishing the Folk Art Messenger and advocating for self-taught artists.
Fountain House Gallery, New York, USA. Manhattan gallery representing artists living with mental illness.
Galerie St. Etienne, New York, USA. Historic New York gallery, now a research foundation, that pioneered dealing in self-taught art.
Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, St Paul, USA. Minnesota centre where artists with disabilities make visual art and theatre.
Kentuck Art Center, Northport, USA. Alabama art centre behind the long running Kentuck Festival of the Arts.
Kohler Foundation, Kohler, USA. Foundation that rescues and preserves artist-built environments across the United States.
LAND Gallery, Brooklyn, USA. Brooklyn studio and gallery for neurodiverse artists.
NIAD Art Center, Richmond, USA. Bay Area studio and gallery for artists with disabilities.
Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, Edmonton, Canada. Edmonton studio collective for artists with developmental disabilities.
North Pole Studio, Portland, USA. Portland studio supporting neurodivergent artists.
Open Studio, New York, USA. New York studio programme for artists with disabilities.
Progressive Art Studio Collective, Detroit, USA. Detroit studio collective for artists with disabilities.
Project Onward, Chicago, USA. Chicago studio and gallery for artists with disabilities, based at the Bridgeport Art Center.
Pure Vision Arts, New York, USA. Manhattan studio and gallery for artists with autism and developmental disabilities.
Riera Studio / Art Brut Project Cuba, Havana, Cuba. Havana studio and collection championing Cuban art brut and self taught artists.
SAGE Studio, Austin, USA. Austin studio and gallery for artists with disabilities.
SPACES Archives, Kohler, USA. Archive documenting art environments worldwide, now housed with the Kohler Foundation.

Rest of the world

Japan leads the way, and the field is growing everywhere.

Borderless Art Museum NO-MA, Omihachiman, Japan. Museum in a converted Showa era house, opened 2004, showing work by disabled and non-disabled artists side by side.
Hajimari Art Center, Inawashiro, Japan. Small art brut museum opened 2014 in a 140 year old former sake brewery, run by welfare organisation Asaka Aiikuen.
Milal Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea. Museum founded 1999 at the Milal School in Gangnam, supporting and exhibiting disabled artists alongside its wider collection.
Mizunoki Museum of Art, Kameoka, Kameoka, Japan. Museum opened 2012 in a converted former barbershop, preserving and showing the art brut collection of the Mizunoki studio.
The Dax Centre, Melbourne, Australia. Gallery at the University of Melbourne holding the Cunningham Dax Collection of over 15,000 works by people with experience of mental illness and trauma.
Tomonotsu Museum, Fukuyama, Japan. Art brut museum opened 2012 in a 150 year old former soy sauce warehouse in the port town of Tomonoura.
Akio Nagasawa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo gallery and publisher whose programme includes self-taught photography.
Gallery of Light (Luminance Art Space), Taichung, Taiwan. Gallery on Meicun Road developing and selling work by artists with physical and mental disabilities.
Tokyo Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. Free metropolitan gallery opened 2020 on Koen-dori street as Tokyo’s base for promoting art brut.
ART:DIS, Singapore, Singapore. Non-profit founded 1993, formerly Very Special Arts Singapore, running training, exhibitions and livelihood programmes for artists with disabilities.
Arts Project Australia, Melbourne, Australia. Supported studio and gallery in Northcote representing artists with intellectual disabilities since 1974.
Atelier Yamanami, Koka, Japan. Art centre and welfare studio founded 1986 whose artists, including Yuichiro Ukai and Momoka Imura, show internationally.
DADAA, Fremantle, Australia. Arts and health organisation in the Old Fremantle Boys’ School with studios and a contemporary gallery for artists with disability.
INCURVE (Atelier Incurve), Osaka, Japan. Supported studio founded 2002 for self-taught artists with intellectual disabilities, with its own gallery and publishing arm.
Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop, Accra, Ghana. Teshie workshop founded in the 1950s by Seth Kane Kwei, originator of Ghana’s figurative fantasy coffins, still run by his family and open to visitors.
Pablos Art Studios, Wellington, New Zealand. Not for profit studio running since 1993 for artists navigating mental wellbeing, with exhibitions through its ROAR gallery.
Studio A, Sydney, Australia. New South Wales supported studio for professional artists with intellectual disability, based in St Leonards.
Toi Ora Live Art Trust, Auckland, New Zealand. Grey Lynn creative space founded 1995 offering free classes and a gallery for people experiencing mental distress.
Tutti Arts, Adelaide, Australia. South Australian multi-arts organisation where learning disabled and neurodivergent artists make visual art, music, theatre and film.
Vincents Art Workshop, Wellington, New Zealand. Free central Wellington art space founded 1985 in response to psychiatric deinstitutionalisation, the oldest creative space in New Zealand.

Fairs, and the journals that hold the field together

Outsider Paris, Paris, France. Art brut fair held each October in Paris, timed alongside Art Basel Paris week.
Art Insolite, France. Long running French site mapping unusual art environments and singular creators.
Outsider Environments Europe, Netherlands. Henk van Es’s long running blog documenting outsider art environments across Europe.
Outsider Art Fair, New York, USA. The annual fairs in New York and Paris that anchor the outsider art calendar, founded 1993.
brutjournal, New York, USA. Online magazine covering outsider art, art brut and the unclassifiable, edited by Edward Gomez.
International Art Brut Biennale, Hengelo, Netherlands. Dutch biennale exhibition bringing international art brut to Hengelo.
Osservatorio Outsider Art, Palermo, Italy. Palermo research centre and journal documenting outsider art in Sicily and beyond.
Grand Baz’Art, Gisors, France. International festival of marginal art held in Gisors, Normandy.

Questions people ask

Is there a national museum of outsider art in the UK?
No single one. Bethlem Museum of the Mind is the closest in spirit, Pallant House collects self-taught British artists, and Outside In operates nationally. The UK’s outsider art map is a constellation, not a capital.

Where can I see outsider art near Swindon?
At Studio BRUT, Arclite House, Century Road, Peatmoor, Swindon SN5 5YN. Entry is free and the opening exhibition launches on Saturday 15 August 2026. London’s venues are an hour away by train.

Can I buy outsider art in the UK?
Yes: at the Gallery of Everything in London, at the Outsider Art Fair if you travel, through Outside In’s artists, and directly from working artists, including the self-taught artists on The BRUT List and on our gallery wall.

Does it cost anything to visit these places?
Bethlem Museum of the Mind and Studio BRUT are free. Commercial galleries are free to walk into. Museums abroad mostly charge a modest entry fee. Nowhere on this list charges what a football ticket costs.

New to the field? Start with the full Outsider Art Field Guide: the history, the glossary and 155 artists worth knowing.