Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Touch Sanitation Performance, 1979-1980

Biography

Since 1977, when Mierle Laderman Ukeles became the official, unsalaried Artist-in-Residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation—a position she still holds—she has created art that deals with the endless maintenance and service work that “keeps the city alive,” urban waste flows, recycling, ecology, urban sustainability and our power to transform degraded land and water into healthy inhabitable public places.

Ukeles asks whether we can design modes of survival -- for a thriving planet, not an entropic one – that don’t crush our personal and civic freedom and silence the individual’s voice.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Mierle Laderman Ukeles's MANIFESTO FOR MAINTENANCE ART, 1969! Proposal for an exhibition: “CARE”, 1969. To view manifesto click here.

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Mar 24, 2020

Artforum Group Show Maintenance Work

Feb 09, 2017

Hyperallergic Group Show How Mierle Laderman Ukeles Turned Maintenance Work into Art

Sep 14, 2016

The New York Times Group Show An Artist Redefines Power. With Sanitation Equipment.

Nov 06, 2016

The New Yorker Group Show Mierle Laderman Ukeles and the Art of Work

Exhibitions

Sep 2025 – Jan 2026 Group Show Performance, Activist, and Existential Photographs

Feb 22 – Feb 25, 2007 Mierle Laderman Ukeles The Armory Show: Mierle Laderman Ukeles

May 07 – Jun 12, 1998 Mierle Laderman Ukeles Maintenance Art Works

Sep 05 – Oct 04, 1984 Mierle Laderman Ukeles Touch Sanitation

See All Exhibitions

Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Snow Workers Ballet, 2012

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Snow Workers Ballet, 2012

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Snow Workers Ballet, 2012

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Snow Workers Ballet, 2012

Ukeles Snow Workers Ballet Romeo And Juliet July 21 2003 1 Of 8 Copy

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Romeo and Juliet Sequence, 2003

from Snow Workers' Ballet

Ukeles Snow Workers Ballet Romeo And Juliet July 21 2003 2 Of 8 1

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Romeo and Juliet Sequence, 2003

from Snow Workers' Ballet

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

The Social Mirror, 1983

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Touch Sanitation Performance, 1979-1980

"Handshake Ritual" with works of NYC Department of Sanitation

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Touch Sanitation Performance, 1979-1980

City-wide performance with 8,500 NYC Department of Sanitation workers

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Touch Sanitation Performance, 1979-1980

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Touch Sanitation Performance, 1979-1980

"Handshake Ritual" with workers of NYC Department of Sanitation

Ukeles I Make Maintenance Art One Hour Every Day 1976 1

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

I Make Maintenance Art One Hour Every Day, 1976

Ukeles The Trees Are Having Their Period 1974 28

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

The Trees are Having Their Period, 1974

Performed at Vassar College

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MIerle Laderman Ukeles

Washing, June 13, 1974

Ukeles Washing Tracks Maintenance Outside 1973 Kk13

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Washing, Tracks, Maintenance (Outside), 1973

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Washing, Tracks, Maintenance (Outside), 1973

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Hartford Wash: Washing, Tracks, Maintenance (Outside), 1973

Part of Maintenance Art Performance Series, 1973-1974 at Wadsworth Atheneum, Hardford, CT.

Ukeles Manifesto For Maintenance Art 1969 Frame Darker Edit

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles

MANIFESTO FOR MAINTENANCE ART, 1969! Proposal for an exhibition: “CARE”, 1969,

Ceremonial Arch

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Ceremonial Arch

installation at Queen's Museum, 2016

Ukeles Unburning Freedom Hall Chairs 1997

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Unburning Freedom Hall, 1997

installation view

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Social Mirror At The Unisphere: Queens Museum

The Queens Museum 2016-2017

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Opening performance for the Touch Sanitation Show

Ronald Feldman Fine Arts: Sept 1984: Cleansing The Bad Names

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Opening performance for the Touch Sanitation Show

Ronald Feldman Fine Arts: Sept 1984: Cleansing The Bad Names

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Maintenance City

Installation view

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Sanman's Place, 1984

installation view

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Sanman's Place, 1984

Sanman's Place

installation view

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One Year's Work Time II

The Queens Museum 2016-17

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Peacetable

The Queens Museum 2016-2017

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Care As Culture Peacetalk

Public Program at the Queens Museum, 2017

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Ceremonial Arch

installation at Queen's Museum, 2016

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Unburning Freedom Hall, 1997

installation view

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Social Mirror At The Unisphere: Queens Museum

The Queens Museum 2016-2017

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Opening performance for the Touch Sanitation Show

Ronald Feldman Fine Arts: Sept 1984: Cleansing The Bad Names

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Opening performance for the Touch Sanitation Show

Ronald Feldman Fine Arts: Sept 1984: Cleansing The Bad Names

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Maintenance City

Installation view

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Sanman's Place, 1984

installation view

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Sanman's Place, 1984

Sanman's Place

installation view

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One Year's Work Time II

The Queens Museum 2016-17

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Peacetable

The Queens Museum 2016-2017

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Care As Culture Peacetalk

Public Program at the Queens Museum, 2017