Public Portrait Session with Mark Loughney

As you explore Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, be sure to view Pyrrhic Defeat: A Visual Study Of Mass Incarceration. This mural by Mark Loughney, presented in collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia, features hundreds of portraits sketched during the artist's ten years of incarceration. These portraits of Loughney's fellow prisoners serve to humanize incarcerated individuals and shed light on the immense human cost of mass incarceration in America.

Since coming home from prison, Loughney has expanded the project by sketching portraits of advocates for criminal justice reform, emphasizing that true reform is a shared responsibility.

Want to be included in this growing work of art? The artist will be sketching portraits of historic site visitors from 12 to 4 pm near his piece, which is located next to the Prisons Today exhibit.

Stop in during your visit or ask any ESPHS staff member for more information!