The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 30, 2026

A horizontally oriented black-and-white photograph depicts three metal-framed cots with canvas tops against intersecting brick walls. The cots are arranged in a row upon a tiled floor where deep shadows pool. On our right, a blurred person with a light skin tone, wearing a light sweater and trousers, moves away while carrying a dark bundle. A dark cloth rests on the cot closest to us.

Emergency Overflow Shelter, First United Methodist Church, Cleveland

1992

Melissa Shook

(American, 1939–2020)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 13.7 x 20.6 cm (5 3/8 x 8 1/8 in.)
The Julius L. Greenfield Photography Acquisition Fund 2025.185.14
© Kristina Shook and Estate of M. Melissa Shook
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

It is estimated that over 5,000 people experience homelessness in Cuyahoga County annually.

Description

Melissa Shook’s portraits and interviews of women in homeless shelters arose from her experiences volunteering at women’s shelters in Boston. In 1992, two Cleveland social service agencies, the Federation for Community Planning and Cleveland Health Care for the Homeless, invited her to photograph women in Cleveland shelters. Her images reveal the challenges these women face, their resilience and determination to rebuild their lives, and the societal and personal cost of homelessness.
  • ?–2025
    (Miyako Yoshinga Gallery, New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 9, 2025–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Emergency Overflow Shelter, First United Methodist Church, Cleveland|url=false|author=Melissa Shook|year=1992|access-date=30 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2025.185.14