Brooklyn-based artist Ward Shelley delivered the first lecture presented by the MFA in Visual Studies program. Shelley specializes in large-scale projects that freely mix sculpture and performance. Over the last five years, Shelley has concentrated on bizarre functioning architectural pieces in which he lives and works during the exhibition, monitored with live surveillance video equipment. His works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Brooklyn Art Museum, and The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

This lecture took place at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon on September 24, 2009.