Watch Maintenance Artist

After motherhood disrupted her art career, Mierle Laderman Ukeles issued a radical manifesto declaring childcare and housework as performance art. Entering the male-dominated 1960s avant-garde, she challenged art's scorn for maintenance and care. Expanding her vision, Ukeles collaborated with overlooked museum workers and, in 1977, became artist-in-residence at NYC Sanitation.

Maintenance Artist is a 2025 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 35 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.5.