Mierle Laderman Ukeles, born in 1939 in Denver, Colorado, is “madly in love” with the public domain and public culture and, as a result, nearly all of her work takes place in the public sphere. In 1969, she wrote the Manifesto for Maintenance Art, 1969! that is still exhibited and taught today. Since 1977, when she became the official, unsalaried artist-in-residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation—a position she still holds—Ukeles 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 public places.