Defending the right to housing through art

A new art exhibit, “Mobile Home,” opened at Cleveland’s Waterloo Arts gallery on Aug.  4. The show focuses on the ongoing struggle of the United Residents of Euclid Beach to stop their eviction from the trailer park where they lease the space their mobile homes occupy. The six artists featured, working in paint, photography, fiber and mixed media, are trailer park residents or supporters of UREB.

Since opening in 1973, the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park has made affordable and accessible homeownership possible for over 100 residents. Now the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which purchased the property in 2021, wants to evict all of the tenants and expand the public park space which abuts the trailer park. This is seen as a move against lower-income residents and a form of gentrification in the North Collinwood community.

However, signs supporting UREB are on display in storefronts and homes all over North Collinwood, especially on Waterloo Road where the gallery is located. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has been helping UREB organize against the evictions, now scheduled for September 2024.

The opening featured a spoken word performance by the Muamin Collective, shown in the photo.

-Report and photo by Martha Grevatt