GLOUCESTERSHIRE.- This summer, the Cape Ann Museum presents Americans Flags, an exhibition of works by artist, designer and professor in the practice of design at Olin College of Engineering, Tim Ferguson Sauder. The exhibition on view at the Janet & William Ellery James Center at the Cape Ann Museum Green (CAM Green), explores American identity through the creation of flags that have been constructed by using mark- making collected from the different people and places that make up our country.

In a country where political discourse is growing ever more polarized, this project encourages discussion about awareness of and empathy for the many different people that make up our great nation. The work celebrates those differences and what they bring to America through a series of American flags built from marks left by these different people. These flags are intended to encourage those who see them to stop and contemplate how our actions affect each other and to feel patriotic about the complex nation that we’re all building together.

“The Museum is delighted to again present the work of Tim Sauder at CAM Green,” said Oliver Barker, Cape Ann Museum Director. “We displayed his work at the White-Ellery House in 2016, and when we saw how closely the participatory, community-sourced, underpinnings of Americans Flags align closely with CAM’s commitment to convening our community around art and ideas, we were delighted to welcome him back.”

As part of this current exhibition, Sauder worked with the CAM Teen Council to create both indoor and outdoor participatory art installations that promote conversation around American Identity. These installations kicked off during the Opening Day on Saturday, August 13 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.

In addition to being a designer, artist, builder and teacher, Sauder has extensive experience producing graphic design work for corporate clients, consulting on visual communication with non-profits, working with students to produce design solutions for live clients, creating public artwork and exploring how visual design affects our views of sustainability. He is the founder of asmallpercent, a design studio through which he has worked for a number of large clients like Google, Saucony, and Intel. As a co-designer of the Accessible Icon Project, Sauder’s work is in the permanent collection of the MOMA and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in NYC.