Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Another artist to note-- Mierle Ukeles. She has a few beautiful social projects, including:

Touch Sanitation (1970-1980)
In which she shook the hand of every sanitation worker in New York (around 9,000, I think) and thanked them.

and

Hartford Wash: Washing/Tracks/Maintenance (1973)
Where she publicly washed the steps of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Connecticut.

Unbelievably rich statements made with such simple gestures!