Current versions of local government artist-in-residence programs typically stop short of figuring out how to induce social change by focusing too much on the artists’ narrowly defined art projects.
In 1977, Mierle Laderman Ukeles became the unsalaried artist-in-residence for the New York City Department of Sanitation. The self-described “maintenance artist” became famous in this role with her Touch Sanitation project, which involved her shaking the hands of 8,500 city sanitation workers and saying, “Thank you for keeping New York City alive,” while documenting her activities through photographs.
Read more at Stanford Social Innovation Review.