St Leger 250: Community Flags
Right Up Our Street, Public Art Installation

Created to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the St Leger, this series of four large-scale textile flags transforms community creativity into a bold visual celebration of Doncaster.

Developed through a programme of intergenerational workshops with Denaby Main Primary Academy, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Mercury College and The Royal Care Home, Rossington, the project brought together children, young people and older residents to explore ideas around place, identity, heritage and belonging.

The workshops were developed and delivered in creative partnership with textile artist Karen Hall as part of the St Leger 250 celebrations with Right Up Our Street and Heritage Doncaster.

A key starting point for the workshops came from discovering that the BSL sign for “Welcome to Doncaster” uses the action of a sash moving across the chest. Taking inspiration from this gesture, participants created their own racing sashes through collage, drawing, colour, shape and mark-making, combining references to the St Leger with personal memories, local places and the things they felt connected to.

Shapes, marks and ideas gathered across the workshops were translated through a distinct visual language to create four individual flag designs.

The final artworks were then handmade in fabric by textile artist and maker Shona Watt, transforming the original paper collages and small-scale marks into four monumental pieces designed to move, shift and come alive in the open air.

Together, the flags celebrate 250 years of the St Leger through the creativity of the communities that continue to shape Doncaster today.

Creative direction and artwork: Andy Welland
Workshops: Andy Welland + Karen Hall
Production: Shona Watt
Commissioned by: Right Up Our Street as part of St Leger 250 / Heritage Doncaster