"In 1976, deep in #NewYorkCity’s fiscal crisis, the #artist #MierleLadermanUkeles read a review of her conceptual work in the Village Voice. In his review, #critic #DavidBourdon made a radical suggestion inspired by #Ukeles’ thesis: What if #municipalwork, like the #Sanitation Department, were #conceptualart? Could it get funded by grants, instead of by the city?
Ukeles presented the idea to Sanitation Department commissioner #AnthonyTVaccarello, who invited her to create #art for 10,000 sanitation #workers. The job would be unpaid. And, it turns out, she would keep it for nearly 50 years and counting.
Now 86, Ukeles is the subject of the #documentary #film “#MaintenanceArtist” directed by #Jewish #filmmaker #TobyPerlFreilich, which made its #NewYork #theatricalrelease last week at the #IFCTheater in #GreenwichVillage.
The title refers to Ukeles’ 1969 #manifesto, which declared that the everyday activities often relegated to women[...] were “#maintenanceart.”
https://www.jta.org/2026/04/29/culture/this-jewish-feminist-has-been-the-nycs-sanitation-departments-official-artist-for-50-years-a-new-movie-tells-her-story