This is the story of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, an artist who transformed acts of maintenance, cleaning, and everyday care into a groundbreaking artistic performance she called “Maintenance Art.” The major project of her life unfolded within the New York City Department of Sanitation, where she met thousands of sanitation workers, shook the hands of more than 8,000 of them, and documented these encounters as a moving form of living art. Through this work she received the official title of “Artist-in-Residence of the New York City Department of Sanitation.”

Later, she would choreograph garbage trucks and tractors, clean museum spaces, and present her works in museums and festivals around the world. With a playful visual language, personal charm, and sincerity that come across clearly in this compelling film, Ukeles demonstrates how artistic performance can restore humanity to professions and workers who had long been invisible and taken for granted.