UK researcher shines light on maintenance work in ‘The Keeping Space’ documentary

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 5, 2026) — Thousands of people move across the campus of the University of Kentucky every day. They enter buildings that are already clean, walk through hallways already mopped and settle into classrooms prepared for the day.

That work became a topic of research for Jena Seiler, Ph.D., lecturer in the UK Lewis Honors College, filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist whose creative practice focuses on helping audiences see the extraordinary in everyday life. Through film and visual storytelling, Seiler explores overlooked spaces, communities and forms of labor. Those interests are at the heart of her documentary, “The Keeping Space.” 

“I have been interested in this idea of maintenance for a really long time,” Seiler said. “You walk across a university campus and you’re always seeing people on lawnmowers, raking, moving things. You go into buildings and there are custodians cleaning. There’s all this effort that sometimes, you might notice if you’re paying attention.”

It was that act of paying attention that eventually led Seiler to Shelia Lackey, a custodian at the Lewis Honors College whose daily work became the focus of the documentary.

“I showed up here at the Lewis Honors College my first year, and pretty quickly I noticed Shelia,” Seiler said. “By the time I’m starting my day, sometimes she’s already completed three hours of work or more.”

After observing Lackey’s work, Seiler approached her about filming her story. Without any hesitation, Lackey said yes.

“If you get the chance to talk to Shelia, you will notice this right away,” Seiler said. “She is such an outgoing and generous person.”

The film does not frame cleaning as invisible labor. It reframes it as skilled practice. Seiler began to see not only the labor itself, but what it demanded.

“Cleaning is about skill,” Seiler said. “You develop a practice around how to do it best. That might be surprising to people, considering how much attention and thought goes into this kind of work, especially for Shelia. You see that in the film, and you hear it in the way Shelia talks about what she does.”

The documentary does not attempt to speak for Lackey so much as it creates space to listen, showing cleaning as an act shaped by care, attention and values that extend far beyond the building itself.

As the project evolved, Seiler’s focus began to shift. It was no longer only about studying labor as a concept but about understanding how that labor reaches outward to family, community and the systems that depend on people whose work often goes unseen.

“The project started because in some ways I was very interested in what this labor was, how we rely on it,” Seiler said. “But after spending time with Shelia, it became very clear that the attention and care that she brings to cleaning also connects to her family, her social circle and community."

Earlier this year, “The Keeping Space” was featured at Lexington’s Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center, where Seiler and co-director Nicole Martin, former Lewis Honors College director of academic affairs, joined a discussion following the screening. The documentary has also gained recognition beyond Kentucky, earning selections to Single Channel’s fifth annual Video Festival and the 18th International Moving Film Festival in Mexico. For the international screening, Seiler collaborated with Lewis Honors College freshman Angela Angulo-Rugerio to translate the film for Spanish-speaking audiences. 

“[This project] is about how we celebrate people, especially those in spaces that have been overlooked or are not paid enough,” Seiler said. “It’s about connecting with others, and that kind of work is worth doing.”

Seiler’s documentary was supported by funds from Celebrating University Research Across the Enterprise (CURATE), a program funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research.