The Museum Gugging opened in 2006 after many years of rehabilitating a former hospital to fit the museum’s needs. The museum is part of a larger complex, the Art / Brut Center Gugging, which also houses a gallery, a studio and residency for Outsider artists, a library and research area, a restaurant and a small space for special events, all situated slightly outside the city on the edge of the woods.

The sheer magnitude of the space—nearly 1,300 square meters—creates an overwhelming experience for visitors. Hall after hall is home to thousands of works, both from their permanent collection and from temporary exhibitions, by Outsider artists over the last century. Though aesthetically and emotionally very different, the works all possess an energy—something esoteric and unexplainable—that has Art Brut fans coming back for more. The cherry on top is the experience of seeing these works in a former hospital, one that undoubtedly housed creative minds confined to labels that ultimately disabled any potential expression.