Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This event occurred on June 12, 2026.
“After the Revolution, who’s going to pick up the garbage on Monday morning?” asked artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles in 1977. With that provocation, she shattered the divide between art and everyday labor, becoming the first artist in residence at New York City’s Department of Sanitation. Her collaborations with municipal workers injected art directly into the city’s bloodstream and redefined what creative practice could be. Inspired by Marcel Duchamp, Ukuleles pioneered the radical idea that routine maintenance—from changing diapers to picking up city trash to caring for the earth—could be acts of performance art.
MAINTENANCE ARTIST is the first feature documentary to explore this revolutionary public artist’s career. Featuring never-before-seen archival footage, the film traces a half-century of social and artistic upheaval through the lens of essential labor and public art. MAINTENANCE ARTIST celebrates Ukeles’s call for a “Maintenance Revolution,” honoring the workers who keep our world running and the artist who insisted that their labor deserves to be seen.
This screening at the Getty Center was introduced by multimedia artist Debra Scacco, the first civic-appointed artist in residence in the City of Santa Monica’s Water and Waste divisions (2023–25).
Learn more about this event:
https://www.getty.edu/calendar/screening-maintenance-artist/
This event is part of the Getty Research Institute's Art on Screen series:
https://www.getty.edu/whats-on/art-on-screen
Learn more about the Getty Research Institute’s collections of feminist performance artists’ archives:
https://www.getty.edu/projects/study_of_performance_woman_artists_archives/
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The Getty Research Institute is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts and their various histories through its expertise, active collecting program, public programs, institutional collaborations, exhibitions, publications, digital services, and residential scholars programs. Its library and special collections of rare materials and digital resources serve an international community of scholars and the interested public. The Research Institute's activities and scholarly resources guide and sustain each other and together provide a unique environment for research, critical inquiry, and scholarly exchange.
Getty Research Institute: https://www.getty.edu/research/
This event occurred on June 12, 2026.
“After the Revolution, who’s going to pick up the garbage on Monday morning?” asked artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles in 1977. With that provocation, she shattered the divide between art and everyday labor, becoming the first artist in residence at New York City’s Department of Sanitation. Her collaborations with municipal workers injected art directly into the city’s bloodstream and redefined what creative practice could be. Inspired by Marcel Duchamp, Ukuleles pioneered the radical idea that routine maintenance—from changing diapers to picking up city trash to caring for the earth—could be acts of performance art.
MAINTENANCE ARTIST is the first feature documentary to explore this revolutionary public artist’s career. Featuring never-before-seen archival footage, the film traces a half-century of social and artistic upheaval through the lens of essential labor and public art. MAINTENANCE ARTIST celebrates Ukeles’s call for a “Maintenance Revolution,” honoring the workers who keep our world running and the artist who insisted that their labor deserves to be seen.
This screening at the Getty Center was introduced by multimedia artist Debra Scacco, the first civic-appointed artist in residence in the City of Santa Monica’s Water and Waste divisions (2023–25).
Learn more about this event:
https://www.getty.edu/calendar/screening-maintenance-artist/
This event is part of the Getty Research Institute's Art on Screen series:
https://www.getty.edu/whats-on/art-on-screen
Learn more about the Getty Research Institute’s collections of feminist performance artists’ archives:
https://www.getty.edu/projects/study_of_performance_woman_artists_archives/
______________________________________________________________________
The Getty Research Institute is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts and their various histories through its expertise, active collecting program, public programs, institutional collaborations, exhibitions, publications, digital services, and residential scholars programs. Its library and special collections of rare materials and digital resources serve an international community of scholars and the interested public. The Research Institute's activities and scholarly resources guide and sustain each other and together provide a unique environment for research, critical inquiry, and scholarly exchange.
Getty Research Institute: https://www.getty.edu/research/
