article: Standing in a cool stone corridor near the heart of Eastern State Penitentiary, a sprawling Gothic prison-turned historic tourist attraction in Philadelphia, Russell Craig tried to round up an audience. "In one minute, I'm about to give a tour... an exclusive, never-before-done tour," he called to families and couples as they ambled past, audio tour players dangling from their necks. Eastern State, a gloomy, turreted structure looming high above an upscale Philadelphian neighbourhood, was the world's first "penitentiary", a word coined for the founders' hope that its inhabitants would reform through prayer and become "penitent". It operated from 1829 until 1971, and held 1,800 men at its peak. After the last inmate left, it collapsed into a ruinous state, then reopened as a museum in 1994. Today, the eerily decrepit cell blocks bustle with tourists, boy scouts and girl guides, church groups and primary school field trips - in total, nearly 220,000 visitors a year. Craig, a tall, bearded 35-year-old dressed in a maroon tour guide's polo shirt, gradually convinced a group of 10 visitors to gather around, and led them through a door into what was once the prison chaplain's office. Inside, the walls are covered with colourful religious murals - depictions of the resurrection of Jesus, a prisoner kneeling at the foot of a priest - though they are badly damaged from exposure to sunlight. They were painted in 1955 by a prolific inmate artist named Lester Smith who served seven months for a string of armed robberies. Craig explained to the group that after his release, Smith was never imprisoned again. "Why would you think that Lester would use art in prison to change his life?" Craig asked. The visitors shrugged. Someone ventured "Something to do?" to nervous laughter. Craig nodded. "True - I can see that." He paused. "I was in prison. I used art to change my life in the same way," he said. "I'm here to give you, like, right in front of you, a live example of how art can change your life." This is the moment the museum staff refer to as the "face melt" - suddenly all the visitors snapped to attention, their eyes leapt to Craig in surprise. "I have examples of my work, if you would like to see," he offered, then pulled out a large reproduction of his prison identification card that he painted in lifelike detail. He passed around the real card, too, which identifies him as "Inmate HP9290". In the ID photo, Craig's gaze is cold and detached. He is almost unrecognisable from the smiling, slightly bashful man standing in front of the group. "I decided when I get out, I'm never going to commit crimes again, I'm [going to] be an artist," he told them. "And it happened for me, just like Lester. He changed his life." After a string of drugs charges beginning when he was a teenager, Craig came under the tutelage of a fellow inmate serving life for murder, who was also a talented artist. Craig emerged from prison in 2013 an accomplished portraitist
summary: At a 19th Century prison that pioneered the use of solitary confinement in the US, former inmates lead one-of-a-kind tours about the history of incarceration and their own experience within it.