Maintenance Artist
Overlooked acts like maintaining a house by doing dishes or maintaining a city by picking up garbage can be seen as performance art, or so says Mierle Laderman Ukeles, the first-ever artist in residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation.
Writer Anne Alvergue scheduled to attend.
Tickets
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Saturday, May 9, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
Sunday, May 10, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
During the era of second-wave feminism, the art world was still run by and featured mostly men. After having a baby, artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles realized that the male artists who inspired her never had to change a diaper or maintain a household. This led her to craft the "Manifesto for Maintenance Art," where she declared everyday chores to be works of performance art, and she would document these acts at home or perform them (mopping, cleaning, dusting, cooking, doing dishes) in museum settings. But maintenance is more than household chores, it is the unheralded work of those who keep cities running, the garbage men and post office employees, and so many others. This led her to become the first ever artist-in-residence at the NY Department of Sanitation. No, really! Since then, she's created installations and performance pieces on a truly grand scale in collaboration with those whose maintenance work is taken for granted. Toby Perl Freilich's engrossing documentary captures her simple but revolutionary world view, and will inspire you to see the art in everyday life.
—Andy Spletzer
- Director: Toby Perl Freilich
- Principal Cast: Mierle Laderman Ukeles
- Country: USA
- Year: 2025
- Running Time: 95 min.
- Producer: Toby Perl Freilich, Judith Mizrachy
- Screenplay: Toby Perl Freilich, Anne Alvergue
- Cinematographers: Vanessa Carr, Roger Grange, Uriel Sinai
- Editors: Anne Alvergue
- Music: Olivier Manchon, Clare Manchon
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Moynihan (2018), Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment (2012)
- Language: English, Japanese
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- US Distributor: Grasshopper Films