Filmmaker Toby Perl Freilich has created a documentary titled "Maintenance Artist" about the pioneering artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles, known for her 1969 "Manifesto for Maintenance Art" and her decades-long role as the unsalaried artist-in-resident at the New York City Department of Sanitation. The film, which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival, features archival footage, interviews with art historians and family, and documents Ukeles's process of curating her archives for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, highlighting her iconic projects like "Touch Sanitation" (1979-80) and her ongoing work on Freshkills Park.
This documentary matters because Ukeles's work fundamentally expanded the definition of art by elevating everyday maintenance tasks—cleaning, cooking, preserving—into artistic practice, influencing contemporary art and feminist discourse. The film brings renewed attention to her radical, human-centered approach at a time when questions of labor, care, and environmental stewardship remain urgent, and it underscores the enduring relevance of her institutional critique and public art legacy.