Excerpt:
...Set between tall shady trees, a number of faded pink palladian villas are all that remains of what used to be the Psychiatric Hospital of Florence. It is here that La Tinaia is based, a place where patients paint and make ceramics. As a 70s experiment in subverting conventional psychiatric practice, La Tinaia has borne fruit in the form of a number of extraordinary painters and ceramic artists producing art that has now been exhibited in Lausanne's Collection de L'Art Brut, New York's Phyllis Kind Gallery, and galleries in Rome, Paris, Cologne and Chicago.

Walking into the hospital grounds, the chaotic noise of Florence's traffic subsides. At the entrance of the building that houses La Tinaia, some patients are sitting outside, one or two smoking. Inside, the atmosphere is one of calm. At a large table, Angela Fidilio, middle-aged, mild-mannered, is working on a drawing. She jumps up to shake my hand and whispers piacere (pleased to meet you) with a little smile.