The Bob & Melissa Project

Living with a Pre-existing Condition can be a challenge.

A story that began in 1992 continues today.
After 3 decades US healthcare services remain in need of change. Quality care is a human right for all of us.
Self-expression through music and a simple faith can bring solace amongst the struggle with mental illness and a troubled U.S. healthcare system.

At Risk.

Up to 50% of US population living with a pre-existing condition.

Bob McCloy. Don't Cry For Me (1)

bm 1

Originally created in 1992, and never before exhibited, this body of work examines the life of Bob and Melissa from Urbana, Illinois, as they waded through the dysfunction of the healthcare and human services system. Sadly, what has become self-evident is that almost three decades later the system still oozes with broken lives in need of an opportunity for wholeness.

Both the Covid 19 pandemic and a fractured political system have endangered the fundamental framework of our democracy. The voices of the underserved remain deafened by governmental turmoil. They are the voices of the anguished, infirm, abused, and uninsured. They are the voices of those with PTSD resulting from gun violence, trauma, or service in our armed forces. They are the voices of those with pre-existing conditions being bankrupted by medical bills, those coming off addiction, and those needing mental healthcare.

Over the decades of unresolved issues and changing policy, these voices have become pleadings. Now the pleadings have become a cry for change. Our nation must address the needs of its most vulnerable citizens. In doing so, perhaps we can begin to rebuild our moral character to once again become the welcoming nation that our founders had envisioned.

Approached as a social documentary and not as a photojournalistic effort, it was conceived to be experienced as a synergy of visual, written, and audio elements. The photographs are to be viewed as parts of the whole, not necessarily individual artistic endeavors.